In NY grandparents have the right to file a Petition for visitation under the right circumstances but what about Great-grandparents ("GGP")?
In the appeal of an upstate NY case, the GGP stated that her grandson (the father of the child was deceased) and thus the GGP could not have contact with the child when the father would otherwise be parenting. The GGP stated that the child “resided in her home every other week” when the father was alive, that she continued to care for the child after the father’s death, “that she was well-bonded with the child, that the mother had “housing instability” and that the child cried when returned to the mother’s care.
The Appeals Court stated that the statute that permits a grandparent to petition for a parenting schedule (and the above in my opinion clearly would have been sufficient) there are no provisions in the statute for a “great-grandparent” and therefore the application for a visitation schedule must be denied.
The Appellate Division also stated the well known rule that there is a rebuttable presumption that a parent has the right to custody of their child unless the nonparent “establishes that there has been surrender, abandonment, persistent neglect, unfitness, an extended disruption of custody or other like extraordinary circumstances”.
In this case, the Appellate Division stated that the GGP’s allegations did not rise to the level of showing “extraordinary circumstances”. The facts that the great-grandchild bonded and enjoyed time with the GGP, that the mother has had some housing instability and that the GGP has helped provide temporary care were not sufficient to show the high proof required for “extraordinary circumstances” and therefore the request for joint legal custody was denied.