Iowa Grandparent Visitation Statute Struck Down

In re Howard, No. 07/02-0211 (Iowa May 7, 2003); 71(44) U.S. Law Week 1712 (May 20, 2003)

The Iowa Supreme Court ruled that an Iowa law that allowed grandparents to seek visitation with their divorced children's children violated that state's constitution.  Under the law, visitation could be ordered if visitation was in the best interests of the child and the grandparent had established a substantial relationship with the child prior to the filing of the divorce petition.  The court ruled that there must be a presumption that a fit parent acts in the child's best interest, a presumption that is not diminished by the fact that the marriage is no longer intact.  Furthermore, there must be a showing that the absence of this visitation harms the child, not merely that such visitation is in the child's best interest...

Found in DMHL Volume 23 Issue 1