Grandparenting Issues Archives - Ohio Family Law Blog

Grandparents Adopting Grandchildren: The Darlings Are in the Details

Can Grandparents Have Legal Adoption Rights Over Their Grandchildren?

Grandchildren Adoption Not Always Automatic. Grandparents Not Always First Choice; Best Interest Of The Child Is Also Considered!

Deciding to adopt a child into a family is a serious undertaking, one that hopefully will bring great happiness for many years. While adoption laws vary from state to state, the process is always a lengthy one, with the applicant needing to meet many detailed requirements before being qualified to adopt. Among them are:

Providing a thorough family and social history;
Being physically and mentally healthy;
Demonstrating financial stability;
Showing moral integrity, with no significant criminal background history;
Demonstrating other factors that the state or agency believe are relevant to the adoption.

At an increased pace, grandparents are petitioning courts to adopt their own grandchildren. This is occurring as result of the incarceration of one or both parents, substance abuse issues the parent(s) are dealing with, or as a consequence of domestic violence, etc. In fact, more than 2.6 million children are living with grandparents, relatives, or close family friends without either of their parents in the home.

Approximately 7.6 million children live in households headed by a grandparent or other … Read More... “Grandparents Adopting Grandchildren: The Darlings Are in the Details”

Grandparent Custody Issues From a Lawyer’s Viewpoint

Grandparents Custody In Ohio

PUBLISHER’S NOTE: Tomorrow is National Grandparents Day. While perhaps it is not a well recognized day, it should be. Grandparents are raising more and more children every year. In addition, the importance of their role in our society can not be overstated. This article posted on the Ohio Family Law Blog 10 years ago by Anne Shale, still serves as an excellent primer about grandparent custody in Ohio. In honor of all the grandparents out there, I want to say “thank you” for all your efforts, sacrafices and the love that you share!”

Grandparents Gaining “Custody” of Their Grandchildren: Why? How? Where?

In an ideal world, children should be reared by a loving and caring two-parent family, having both a Father and a Mother, with plenty of caring relatives to assist with parenting activities during times of stress, need, or illness. Today, we are seeing more and more Grandparents taking on the responsibility of primary child-rearing of their Grandchild or Grandchildren. For the sake of brevity, this article is directed to Grandparents seeking “custody” of one Grandchild though they may, in fact, be seeking “custody” of several Grandchildren. Why are we seeing … Read More... “Grandparent Custody Issues From a Lawyer’s Viewpoint”

Grandparents Active with Their Grandkids May Live Longer According to This New Study!

Can Grandparents Live Longer Simply By Caring For Their Grandchildren? Study Says…

grandparents live longer study Grandparents who help out with childcare or provide support to others in their community tend to live longer than seniors who do not care for other people, according to a study from Berlin, Germany. While having full-time custody of grandchildren can have a negative effect on health, occasional helping can be beneficial for seniors.

An international research team has found that grandparents who care for their grandchildren on average live longer than grandparents who do not. The researchers conducted survival analyses of over 500 people aged between 70 and 103 years, drawing on data from the Berlin Aging Study collected between 1990 and 2009.

In contrast to most previous studies on the topic, these researchers deliberately did not include grandparents who were primary or custodial caregivers. Instead, they compared grandparents who provided occasional childcare with grandparents who did not, as well as with older adults who did not have children or grandchildren but who provided care for others in their social network.

International Study Reveals Grandparents Who Care For Their Grandchildren On Average Live Longer Than Grandparents Who Do Not

“Having no contact with grandchildren at all can … Read More... “Grandparents Active with Their Grandkids May Live Longer According to This New Study!”

Mother’s Day – Valuable Tips For New Stepparents

The Challenges of Blending Families – Important Advice For Mother’s Day

Patience Is Key When Stepmothers And Grandmothers Are Raising Their Grandchildren As Their Own Says Author Kate Fogerty

mother's day ohio NOTE: I was considering writing a new article about Mother’s Day so I began by looking through the Ohio Family Law Blog archives. Some advice is timeless. This one from seven years ago is still on point. Here is a reprise of “Mother’s Day – A Very Special Day!” We wish all Mother’s and Grandmother’s a wonderful Mother’s Day filled with smiles, laughter and joyous memories!

Naturally Mother’s Day is a special day for families and especially for mothers. In this day and age however, there are often multiple females who may play a key role in a child’s life. Stepmothers and grandmothers raising their grandchildren as their own are now quite the norm. These women need to be recognized on Mother’s Day.

Stepmothers are often portrayed in a negative light. It is important to look at all sides, as a step mom often has to walk the tight rope. She has to carefully navigate the road so that she is an integral part of her new child … Read More... “Mother’s Day – Valuable Tips For New Stepparents”

Custodial Grandparents: Stress From Raising Grandchildren

Increasing Number of Grandparents Becoming Custodial Grandparents to their Grandchildren

Custodial Grandparents Have Higher Stress Levels than Grandparents Who Are not Caregivers of their Grandchildren According to Recent Studies

What children need most are the essentials that grandparents provide in abundance. They give unconditional love, kindness, patience, humor, comfort, lessons in life. And, most importantly, cookies.

~ Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

custodial grandparents grandchildren I believe Mayor Giuliani’s wonderful quote about grandparents resonates in most of our hearts when we think of our own grandparents. However, in today’s society we are seeing an increasing number of grandparents becoming custodial grandparents to their grandchildren. Custodial grandparent or grandparents are best defined as grandparents who take over as the primary caretaker to their grandchildren. Collectively, custodial grandparents often face a number of different and unique difficulties associated with the caring of their grandchildren, when compared to the traditional nuclear family structure of two birth parents raising and caring for their children. Some of these difficulties include increase of stress in their day-to-day lives, financial struggles due to fixed incomes, and health related limitations as custodial grandparents are usually at a different stage in life when caring for the children. This article will … Read More... “Custodial Grandparents: Stress From Raising Grandchildren”

Child Custody: Parents versus Grandparents

An Overview Of The Child Custody Case Timothy Cantrell v. Erica Trinkle (2011-CA-17)

child custody The Juvenile Court of Clark County, Ohio awarded custody of the minor child (“CC”) to the paternal grandparents. Mother appealed the decision.

Court of Appeals Holding:

The Juvenile Court’s finding that the Mother was an “unsuitable parent” was against the manifest weight of the evidence.

Parties to the action:

Timothy Cantrell: Father of CC.
Erica Trinkle: Mother of CC.
Tracy and Randy Wood: Paternal grandparents of CC.

Facts of the child custody case:

Timothy Cantrell (“Father”) and Erica Trinkle (“Mother”) had a child, CC, out of wedlock in September 2007. In March 2008, Mother’s Father was providing child care for CC while Mother was working. An automobile accident occurred and the child was not injured. Allegations were made that the maternal Grandfather was intoxicated at the time of the accident. That allegation was not substantiated. Following the automobile accident, a referral was made to the Clark County Children’s Services Board (“CSB”). Neither Father nor Mother complied with the voluntary case plan with CSB and the case was “closed” in December 2008.

In June 2008, Mother and Father ended their relationship with one another. Mother and CC moved … Read More... “Child Custody: Parents versus Grandparents”

Grandparenting Styles: Taking the Quiz

Grandparenting Styles: Impressions By a Dayton, Ohio, Divorce Lawyer

Grandparenting Styles in Dayton Ohio It was truly a memorable Christmas. In the past we have usually managed to get the “family” together in Dayton, Ohio. But this year I locked the door of my law office; and my wife and I flew to Dallas to be with our son, daughter-in-law and our first grandchild – Hannah. We were fortunate enough to have been able to travel from Dayton, Ohio, to Texas to be in the hospital when Hannah was born five (5) months or so ago, but we haven’t visited in person since.

I wish we lived closer. Dayton and Dallas are a long way apart. Being proud parents (and now grandparents) we are thankful for all the photos, videos and texts we have received showing Hannah’s growth, almost on a daily basis. Hannah’s Mom and Dad have great jobs and have established a wonderful life there together. They are very happy!

Being a divorce lawyer who likes to be totally prepared, as well as a compulsive researcher, I figured that I needed to update my parenting knowledge base since my two (2) sons are now thirtyish and my baby caring skills are pretty rusty. … Read More... “Grandparenting Styles: Taking the Quiz”