Third Party and Grandparent Visitation in Maryland

The issue of third party visitation for grandparents in Maryland is outlined in MD 9-102 Petition by Grandparent's for Visitation. This statute states that a court may (1) consider a petition for reasonable visitation of a grandchild by a grandparent; and (2) if the court finds it to be in the best interests of the child, grant visitation rights to the grandparent. Therefore in Maryland the court will look to the best interests and apply the best interest test when determining whether or not visitation should be granted to a grandparent. The issue of third party visitation was addressed in the Supreme Court Case Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57,120 S. Ct. 2054,147 L. Ed. 2d 49 (2000). In Troxel, the court determined that State courts must give deference to a fit parent’s reasonable visitation decisions and that there is a presumption that parents will act in the best interests of their children. The Court also outlined that in order to overcome the presumption in favor of the a child's parents the petitioning party must show parental unfitness, exceptional circumstances that demonstrate a detriment to the child. The burden to overcome the presumption is on the petitioning party which will be faced with the Court providing preference to a fit parent's decision.