Bill > H1261

This bill proposes to amend Chapter 119 of the General Laws by replacing section 39D to expand visitation rights for great-grandparents. Specifically, it allows grandparents or great-grandparents to petition the probate and family court for reasonable visitation rights for a minor child if the child's parents are divorced, living apart under a court order, or if one or both parents are deceased. The bill also covers situations where a child was born out of wedlock and paternity has been established, or if the father has acknowledged paternity, and the parents do not live together. The court can grant these visitation rights if it finds them to be in the best interest of the child, and for maternal grandparents or great-grandparents, an adjudication or acknowledgment of paternity is not required. However, if the child is adopted by someone other than a stepparent, any existing visitation rights granted under this section will terminate automatically. Petitions for these visitation rights should generally be filed in the county where divorce, separate support, or paternity proceedings occurred, or in the county where the child resides if the initial judgment was entered outside the Commonwealth.