Support Georgia Grandparents’ Rights: Reform Visitation Laws for the Best Interest of

 Grandparents play a vital role in the emotional well-being of their grandchildren. Yet, Georgia’s current visitation laws often leave loving grandparents with no legal recourse to maintain their relationship with their grandchildren when family conflicts arise. We are calling for Georgia lawmakers to update these laws to prioritize the best interests of children and allow grandparents to maintain meaningful relationships with their grandchildren.

As grandparents, we are often a source of stability, love, and support in our grandchildren’s lives. However, Georgia’s current grandparent visitation laws are outdated and restrictive, leaving many grandparents without the ability to maintain meaningful relationships with their grandchildren when conflicts arise within the family. We need to reform these laws to protect children from the emotional harm caused by unnecessarily severing these important family bonds.

Under Georgia’s existing laws, grandparents can only seek visitation rights in limited circumstances, such as after the death of a parent, a divorce, or if the parents are unmarried. Even in these cases, the burden falls on grandparents to prove that denying visitation would cause harm to the child—an unfair and unreasonable standar, given the wealth of research showing that maintaining relationships with grandparents is in the best interest of the child.

The Problem:

The courts often cite the Fourteenth Amendment, which protects a parent’s right to make decisions about their child’s upbringing, as a reason for denying grandparent visitation. While parental rights are important, courts already regulate parental decisions in other areas when it’s in the best interest of the child—such as requiring car seats, vaccinations, and education. Emotional well-being is just as important as physical safety, and the law should reflect that by ensuring that children have access to the love and support of their grandparents.

The emotional harm caused by severing grandparent relationships can be profound, leading to anxiety, depression, and behavioral problems in children. Grandparents, too, often suffer from emotional distress, isolation, and loss. This issue is not about custody or interfering with parental rights—it’s about allowing grandparents to maintain a relationship with their grandchildren and providing stability for the child in the face of adult conflicts.

We are calling for the following changes to Georgia’s grandparent visitation laws:

 1. Shift the Burden of Proof: Parents, not grandparents, should be required to prove that maintaining a grandparent-grandchild relationship would harm the child. This change would ensure that children’s best interests are prioritized, rather than placing an unfair burden on grandparents.

 2. Proactive Legal Action: Courts should act before harm occurs and recognize the importance of grandparent relationships in stable families, not just in times of crisis. Children benefit from these relationships even when parents are together, and the law should reflect that.

 3. Prevent Emotional Manipulation: Courts must recognize when children are being used as pawns in adult conflicts, and protect children from being unfairly cut off from their grandparents in such situations.

 4. Adopt Reforms from Other States: States like Tennessee have updated their laws to allow grandparents to seek visitation if cutting off the relationship would cause “substantial harm” to the child. Georgia should follow this model to ensure that the child’s emotional well-being is the priority.

By signing this petition, you are joining the call to reform Georgia’s grandparent visitation laws and protect the relationships that are so important to the emotional health and well-being of our children. Grandparents aren’t asking for control or custody—we are asking for the right to maintain meaningful relationships with our grandchildren, and to provide the love, stability, and support that all children need.

Please sign this petition to urge Georgia lawmakers to take action and update our laws to better reflect the needs of children, grandparents, and families.