TEXAS GREAT Grandparent rights...

Question

My husband and I are being sued by HIS GRANDmother for custody and/or access to our 5 yr old daughter. To put the long story short we have had our share of ups and downs as a couple, which she wants to use against us. She has no relationships with her 3 grown daughters in California and our 3 kids (2 from my former husband) want nothing to do with her. I know that our daughter is 5 and is impressionable but her GreatGrandMother has a bit of money a black heart and no family member to share it with. She moved from California to Texas in 2005 buying a home down the street from us. She spies on us, sends letters to my husband when deployed to Iraq that only cause trouble. Or children are healthy and as normal can be. We are not a perfect parents and our disciplining style may differ from some but our kids are happy. So in short any advice on court, law and experience??? We cant afford an attorney and military lawyers cant help us. I have looked for pro bono to no avail. HELP????

Answer 1

The US Supreme court recently ruled against grandparents' rights unless in rare instances where there is a divorce, death of a parent, or incarceration.

Since your are an intact family, grandma has no legal right to interfere with your parenting style. Tell her to buzz off!!

Answer 2

States have only recently begun addressing grandparents rights so they have not even reached great-grandparents rights.  She does not have any legal rights to the child (unless she had legal custody of the child for a period of time).  Of course, she can try and sounds like she's trying to make your life miserable.  Unfortunately, this isn't against the law unless it rises to behavior that violates the law in which case you could pursue legal action.

Doesn't sound like you need an attorney although you may be thinking of an action for harassment - this would be very very difficult and there may be a natural bias towards a "little old lady".  For now, keep an accurate journal of what is happening in case you need it in the future for court, etc..  Don't rely on memory.  A written account of things as they happen helps a lot.

My advice is that you and your husband need to present a united front and really have to not give her ANY "ammunition" that she can use in a child services complaint.  You both have to agree to ignore her.  If she's able to send a letter to your husband and cause a problem for you both, this will continue.