The Supreme Court of Colorado ruled on Monday that a child’s grandparents are no longer legally “grandparents” who are able to ask for a visit once the adoption of his grandchild was finalized in a new set of parents.
In 4-3, the court concluded that the law allowing visits to grandparents applies to a person who “is the parent” of the mother or father of a child. Consequently, if the parents have died and that a new set of parents adopted children, the grandparents no longer correspond to the definition of grandparents.
“Admittedly, the death of a parent does not instantly cancel the grandparent. However, an adoption does exactly that,” wrote Judge Brian D. Boatright In the opinion of the majority of June 9. “We therefore note that the position to look for visits to grandparents is limited to the one who is the current parent of the father or mother of a child.”
Judge Maria E. Berkenkotter disagreed with this reasoning, believing that the law of Colorado does not make grandparents to people as long as their own children – the parents of their grandchildren – are alive.
“In addition, a biological parent is a parent of life and death.
The judge of the Supreme Court of Colorado, Maria E. Berkenkotter, poses a question during the oral arguments in the courts of the community on Thursday October 26, 2023 at Gateway high school in Aurora, Colorado (Timothy Hurst / Denver Gazette)
The dispute over the status of grandparents came from the Death of Brandon and Amanda Sullivan In their home of Delta County in April 2020. They left three young children. The authorities judged him as a suicide murder.
A judge appointed children’s maternal grandparents, Suzanne Nicolas and August Nicolas, as permanent guards, while allowing paternal grandparents to visit. In October 2021, the Nicolases adopted the children. The paternal grandparents, Jayne Mecque Sullivan and Daniel Francis Sullivan, then asked for in progress visits, and the judge established a calendar.
However, the Nicolases have identified “deep disagreements” between the two sets of grandparents arising from the massacre. Consequently, they sought to cancel the visiting order of the trial judge for the Sullivans. The Nicolases argued that they were now the parents of the children and the Sullivans, not being the parents of the Nicolases, no longer fell under the definition of “grandparents”.
Previously, a panel of three judges for the court of appeal Sidel with the SullivansThe rights to visit the grandparents concluded are not “automatically cut” whenever a little child is adopted due to a provision allowing grandparents to ask for a visit to the death of a parent.
The Sullivans “are the definition of grandparents, it does not matter when they have tabled their visiting grandparents,” wrote J. Eric Kuhn.
File photo: Judge W. Eric Kuhn speaks following his insurance ceremony at the Court of Appeal on July 22, 2022. Also illustrated, from left to right, are judges Rebecca R. Freyre, Craig R. Welling and Ted C. Tow III, and chief judge Gilbert M. Roman.
During oral arguments in April, Gabriel asked questions about a situation in which two parents die in a car accident and a family friend adopts the children.
“In your opinion, not all grandparents would not be lucky. They would be out of the lives of these children,” he told Sean Connelly, the lawyer for Nicolases.
“I hope that in an ideal world, people would say:” We want the grandparents to be always involved in their lives “, said Connelly.
“I think your answer must be” yes “,” arrested Berkenkotter, that the grandparents could no longer legally ask the visits.
Yes, that’s what would happen, said Connelly.
In the end, the majority concluded that the Sullivans were no longer the grandparents of children once the Nicolases adopted them.
“We recognize that this loss and the particularly difficult circumstances that surround it, have deep challenges for people involved, for whom there is almost no satisfactory legal result.” Therefore, we determine that the clear language of the law requires a temporal limitation, restricting “grandparent” to the one who is a grandparent at the time of the deposit of the visit. “
Berkenkotter argued that the legislators provided grandparents whose children died to be able to ask for visits with their grandchildren “at any time”. In his opinion, the Sullivans remained the grandparents despite the adoption.
“This does not want to withdraw anything from the adoptive parent, who is also a parent. It is simply that the relationship between the deceased parent and the child who survived transcends time in a way that our language reflects,” she wrote. “We refer, for example, to the members of our deceased family even if they died decades ago as” my father “and” my mother “, not” ancient Father ‘and’ my ancient mother.'”
Timothy J. Eirich, who represented the Sullivans, said that trial judges could be “reluctant” to grant adoptions in similar cases in the future if that means that grandparents will cease to be legally grandparents.
“It is obviously a disappointing result at many levels and, as noted dissident, clearly not provided by the General Assembly of Colorado,” he said. “I expect this problem now requires a legislative solution.”
Connelly, the lawyer for the Nicolases, refused to comment.
The case is In the parental responsibilities of KMS et al.