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What's in a Name? Defining and Granting a Legal Status to Grandparents Who are Informal Primary Caregivers of their Grandchildren
Author(s) -
Meara Kathleen
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
family court review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.171
H-Index - 4
eISSN - 1744-1617
pISSN - 1531-2445
DOI - 10.1111/fcre.12075
Subject(s) - grandparent , statute , custodians , government (linguistics) , presumption , law , psychology , political science , philosophy , archaeology , history , linguistics
The number of grandparents raising their grandchildren informally is increasing in the United States. Without legal recognition, grandparents face problems consenting for their grandchild's educational and medical needs and receiving government financial assistance. Although many of these grandparents live on a fixed or limited income, current government programs are either not applicable or insufficient to provide financial support for grandparents raising grandchildren. Some states have attempted to provide a legal status for grandparents who are primary caregivers, but state solutions are both inadequate and varied. This Note proposes that all states adopt a de facto custodianship statute to create a legal status for grandparents informally raising their grandchildren so they can provide for the child's needs and receive financial assistance. The statute will protect the parental presumption by setting a high standard for de facto custodians and will preserve a temporary opportunity for the child's parents to reassume their parental duties. If the court finds that a grandparent has met the de facto custodian standard, then the grandparents will have legal standing to seek custody of the child. Keypoints 2.5 million grandparents in the United States are primary caregivers for their grandchildren. Current forms of legal recognition for grandparents raising grandchildren do not allow grandparents to consent in all medical and educational settings. A model statute is proposed for all states to adopt that would allow grandparents legal recognition to adequately care for their grandchildren. Model statute is constitutional because it gives preference to parents and requires grandparents to prove by clear and convincing evidence their ability to seek legal recognition.