Sands v. Sands, 2
| Citation | 157 Ariz. 322,757 P.2d 126 |
| Decision Date | 21 June 1988 |
| Docket Number | CA-CV,No. 2,2 |
| Parties | Patricia Ann SANDS, now known as Patricia Taylor, Petitioner/Appellant, v. Royce Calvin SANDS II, Respondent, and Royce Calvin SANDS and Helen L. Sands, husband and wife, Real Parties in Interest/Appellees. 88-0057. |
| Court | Court of Appeals of Arizona |
The issue in this case is what becomes of paternal grandparental visitation rights granted by a court order pursuant to statute when the parental rights of the non-custodial father are terminated.
Appellant Patricia Taylor, formerly Patricia Sands, is the mother of four minor children, born during her marriage to Royce Calvin Sands II, their father. On December 21, 1982, the court entered a legal separation decree, and on May 30, 1984, a dissolution decree. In both, the court awarded custody of the four children to appellant. In 1983, a jury found the father guilty of various counts of kidnapping, aggravated assault, resisting arrest and possession of marijuana, all of which stemmed from an incident in which the father had been involved in a stand off with police during which time he held the children hostage. Sands was sentenced to concurrent prison terms, the longest being 10 years.
On July 2, 1985, after a hearing on the petition of the paternal grandparents, Royce Calvin Sands and Helen L. Sands, the trial court awarded the Sands grandparental visitation rights. Approximately one year later, appellant filed a petition seeking to terminate the father's parental rights. On August 11, 1986, the superior court ordered the severance of the father's rights as to all four children. This court affirmed the severance.
Appellant, citing the severance order and other factual grounds, then filed a petition to terminate the July 2, 1985, order granting grandparental visitation rights. The superior court denied the petition without holding an evidentiary hearing. This appeal followed.
Appellant contends that the court erred, arguing that once the father's parental rights were severed, the prior order granting visitation rights to the paternal grandparents was rendered void and without legal authority. Alternatively, appellant argues that the court erred in ruling without a hearing.
Prior to the enactment of grandparent visitation statutes, grandparents had no legal rights to visitation with their grandchildren. At common law, such rights were derived through the natural parents. In re Adoption of a Child by M, 140 N.J.Super. 91, 355 A.2d 211 (1976).
In 1983, the Arizona legislature enacted A.R.S. § 25-337.01, which provides as follows:
A. The superior court may grant the grandparents of the minor child reasonable visitation rights to the minor child during his minority on a finding that the visitation rights would be in the best interests of the minor child and that:
1. The marriage of the parents of the child has been dissolved for at least three months, and the grandparents are the parents of the noncustodial parent of the child; or
2. A parent of the child has been deceased for at least three months, and the grandparents were the parents of the deceased parent of the child.
B. The superior court may grant the great-grandparents of the minor child reasonable visitation rights on a finding that the great-grandparents would be entitled to such rights under subsection A if the great-grandparents were grandparents of the minor child.
C. A grandparent or great-grandparent seeking to obtain visitation rights under this section shall petition for such rights in the same action in which the parents had their marriage dissolved if the marriage has been dissolved and the court entering the decree has jurisdiction to enter such an order and by a separate action in the county where the child resides if no action for dissolution has been filed or the court entering the decree of dissolution no longer has jurisdiction.
D. All visitation rights granted under this section automatically terminate if the minor child has been adopted or placed for adoption,...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Hede v. Gilstrap
...citing three cases that deal with the taking of liberty or property without due process of law. As we stated in Sands [v. Sands, 157 Ariz. 322, 757 P.2d 126 (Ariz.App.1988)], prior to the enactment of the grandparent visitation laws, grandparents had no legal right to visit with their grand......
-
Graville v. Dodge
...(App.1995). ¶ 18 Under the common law, grandparents had no legal rights to visitation with their grandchildren. Sands v. Sands, 157 Ariz. 322, 323, 757 P.2d 126, 127 (App.1988). However, all fifty states have adopted grandparent visitation statutes. See Michael v. Hertzler, 900 P.2d 1144, 1......
-
McDonald v. Smitty's Super Valu, Inc.
... ... This duty entails reasonable inspection to discover dangerous conditions. Gee v. Salcido, 2 Ariz.App. 280, 282, 408 P.2d 42, 44 (1966). A proprietor has a greater duty to discover dangerous ... ...
-
West v. Mallory G M..W., 1 CA-JV 17-0087
...were terminated, he no longer had standing to challenge [the child]'s placement and anticipated adoption.") (citing Sands v. Sands, 157 Ariz. 322, 324 (App. 1988)). 10. Aunt also moves this Court for dismissal of Father's appeal of the denial of his new trial motion for want of jurisdiction......