Reform priority 11 of 14
Extended family standing
Recognize siblings and grandparents as stakeholders.
Not yet verified: Verify how Ohio courts apply Troxel and Harrold v. Collier to relative visitation, and how ORC Chapter 3127 treats grandparent visitation after an interstate move, before describing current law.
Stub. Model language, evidence, fiscal note, and rubric score are in drafting.
The problem
Siblings and grandparents appear in custody decisions, if at all, only as factors in someone else's case. Grandparents who provided years of daily care can lose all contact overnight, and unless a qualifying case is open, or after a child moves out of state, they may have no forum in which to be heard.
Current Ohio law
What we propose
Clarify and strengthen standing for siblings and grandparents to seek companionship and continued contact. Give relatives who served as substantial, regular caregivers for a defined period a forum to request continued contact, with a fit parent's decision still given special weight. Require guardians ad litem to interview adults who provide substantial care, and to state in their reports whether they did.
Strongest objections, and our response
To be written. Every priority page states its best counterarguments in their strongest form.
Model language
To be drafted.
Rubric score
Pending. Scored against Articles 1–7.