GRANDPARENTS: THE OTHER VICTIMS OF THURSDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1982 U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:35 a.m., in room 2261, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Mario Biaggi (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Members present: Representatives Biaggi of New York, Hughes of New Jersey, Ferraro of New York, Rinaldo of New Jersey, Shumway of California, and Craig of Idaho. Also present: Representative Lantos of California. OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN MARIO BIAGGI Mr. BIAGGI. The hearing is called to order. As chairman of the Subcommittee on Human Services I am pleased to convene this morning's hearing entitled "Grandparents-The Other Victims of Divorce and Custody Disputes." I also conduct this hearing as a grandfather with six grandchildren. The House Select Committee on Aging is charged with the responsibility to "conduct continuing comprehensive study of the problems of the older American, including . . . participation in family and community life." Our subcommittee is exploring the problem and issue of providing grandparents with the visitation rights under law after marital dissolution. During the course of today's proceedings, we hope to address four basic questions: What legal rights do grandparents have to visit their grandchildren after divorce and custody settlements and other forms of marital dissolution? What are the obstacles to enforcement? Should a Federal law be enacted to guarantee these rights in the eight States which have no laws? Is a Federal law needed to help bring uniformity to the 42 largely different State laws which govern grandparent visitation rights? Are grandparents being afforded equal protection under existing State laws which govern visitation rights? Today in America, approximately 70 percent of older people in the United States have grandchildren. Statistics reveal that women become grandmothers at approximately 50 years of age, and men become grandfathers around age 52. Based on current life expec (1) H tancy, this can leave as much as a 20- to 30-year period for the development of meaningful relations between grandparents and grandchildren. That is the positive side of the coin. On the negative side, over 1 million children a year experience the divorce of their parents; a startling 48 percent of those who married in 1970 will eventually divorce. Most people who get divorced will remarry in many instances within 3 years. These contemporary shifts in divorce and remarriage are radically changing the character and structure of the family as we know it. In 1978, 10 million children lived in a household with one natural parent and one stepparent. Today we have far more than the traditional grandparenting. We now have the stepgrandparent and the multiple grandparent family. What we seek to address today is what rights will these grandparents as well as biological grandparents have to visit their grandchildren after marital dissolution. Our hearing is structured so we may examine the issue from three perspectives-social, legal, and psychological. Our first panel of witnesses could be best described as advocates. A testimonial to the degree of interest which this issue has generated has been the establishment of at least four national grandparents' rights organizations. We are proud this morning to have the founders of three of them with us today. These witnesses, who themselves are grandparents, will address the problems associated with the 42 State statutes on this subject as well as the lack of judicial decisiveness. Some of our witnesses have incurred enormous personal expense-as much as $60,000 in one instance-simply to acquire basic visitation privileges with their grandchildren. An issue we must raise today-what does a grandparent without financial resources do-are they being denied equal protection under the law? Finally, this first group of witnesses will offer their views on what role, if any, the Federal Government should have in this area. Our second group of witnesses are noted psychiatrists in this field who will address the importance of grandparent and grandchildren relations, as well as problems which can ensue from adversarial court battles. These witnesses will also discuss this issue from the standpoint of what is in the child's best interest in awarding grandparent visitation privileges. Our third and final group of witnesses are lawyers who will try and tackle the complex legal issues before us today. The most fundamental of these is: Is there a Federal role in this area, and if so what is it? Further, does the existing lack of uniformity among the 42 State laws on grandparent visitation impact adversely on the implementation of these rights by the affected grandparents? Is there a denial of equal protection under the law by virtue of excessive costs which certain States require in order for a grandparent to gain visitation privileges? Finally, when determining the legal status of grandparent visitation privileges-how is "best interest of the child" standard applied? One of the most remarkable developments-that has occurred since this hearing was announced several weeks ago-has been an influx of calls and letters from across the Nation from grandparents and others concerned with this issue we will raise today. Here is a folder of all of those letters, and the office has been besieged with phone calls, and I expect that it will develop into an ava lanche as a result of these hearings. These letters-which total more than 100-address themselves to the major issues we will discuss today. Many of those grandparents who wrote shared similar problems. The diversity of State laws seemed to be a major problem. A dentist, from El Cajon, Calif., who has been involved in litigation for 21⁄2 years to be granted the right to visit his 4-year-old grandson, writes: I know the situation is not too unlike hundreds of others in a changing world. Families falling apart and little children losing contact with sometimes the only stable relationship in their lives. There seems to be no coordination between our States regarding this seriously overlooked problem. We worry that the court order we have here in California would not be worth a thing if our grandson were taken out of the State. The costs involved in litigation was another common complaint. A letter from grandparents in Fullerton, Calif., who have been denied visitation privileges to visit their only granddaughter after their daughter died in 1981 wrote: We tried to get an attorney but he discouraged us by telling us it could cost up to $10,000 and we could not be assured of any results. We do not have this kind of money but whatever we have it will go to our granddaughter. The son of a Lincoln Park, Mich. couple died in March 1977. Since then the daughter-in-law has remarried and adopted their grandson. They wrote: We have been in and out of the courts-and spent thousands of dollars on lawyers and still are not seeing our grandson. The emotional strain of both, the lack of uniform laws and the cost of litigation was evident in almost all of the letters. There was a notable concern about the effect it was having on the children. A grandmother from Lansing, Mich. wrote: Our grandson is probably unaware of all our attempts to get him back. Gifts, letters and cards have gone unacknowledged. To me, this is child abuse. A grandmother from Wheeler, Wis. writes: It took us 14 hard, long, and painful months to get to see our grandson after the divorce. We couldn't even stand to go into stores and look at children's clothes. It just hurt too much. Why should the grandchildren and grandparents pay for mistakes the parents make? As I have stated before our purpose today is to focus national attention-if you will-launch a national debate on the issue of grandparents and their visitation privileges to see their grandchildren in the event of a marital dissolution. Our other purpose is to listen carefully to testimony on recommendations of experts and others concerned with this topic on the delicate issue of which level of government should assume responsibility for the enactment and enforcement of laws on behalf of grandparent visitation. It is evident that State governments have assumed some responsibility with 75 percent of them having enacted statutes. However, if there is in fact a Federal question involved we would like to know about it and then proceed in the usual bipartisan manner which characterizes our committee's work. The only recommendation I do offer is, in order to bring a sense of uniformity to the 42 State laws which have been adopted, to have the diversity-of-State-law issue be referred to the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws for their evaluation and ultimate action. This non-Federal Government entity was established in 1892 and is vested with the responsibility to promote uniformity in State laws on all subjects where uniformity is deemed desireable and practical. Let me close my statement with a poem that was written about an 82-year-old grandfather who has been denied the right to see his only granddaughter, Kim. Grandpa, can I see you? Could you take me to the fair, Grandpa, would you walk with me? Grandpa, do you love me? Grandpa, can I see you, I know this isn't fair; But things will soon be changing, Grandpa, we'll be together Grandpa, don't stop trying, I want to see you smile. -by Susan Vaughn. I recognize the gentleman from New Jersey, Mr. Rinaldo. STATEMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE MATTHEW J. RINALDO Mr. RINALDO. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I want to take this opportunity to commend Chairman Biaggi for convening this hearing today, and also my distinguished colleague from New Jersey, Congressman Hughes, for initiating this hearing. I think the issue of visitation rights for grandparents and their grandchildren is a national problem, and as such deserves this type of national attention. With our thoughts turning toward our families as the holidays approach, we are reminded that grandparents and grandchildren are indeed a vital connection. I was thinking as I was coming up to the hearing this morning of my own family situation. My father is retired now, just celebrated his 73d birthday. My mother does not tell anybody her age, but it is close to that. I know that I have a total of 10 nieces and nephews, and they just about live and exist for those children. He is in perfect health, but he will drive from Union, N.J. to Maryland to visit the grandchildren. He will call them up, and that is what they spend most of their time doing and they would rather do that than go on a vacation to Hawaii or anywhere in the world. I would just wonder what would ever happen |