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Change of Circumstances and Grandparent Custody

July 12, 2013

Family LawyerThe concept of “change of circumstances” is an important, but complicated concept in family law.  When a person wants to change the court’s custody orders, there has to be a change in circumstances.

CUSTODY LAWYER INThe first important question is “Whose circumstances have to have changed?”  The answer to that depends on whether the order is a shared parenting decree (two residential parents), joint custody (one parent and one non-parent) or whether a person (or persons) have legal custody (aka residential parent or sole custody).  In a nutshell, the question is “Shared Parenting, Joint Custody or Sole Custody? ”

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Change of Circumstances
When a person has sole custody of a child (aka “legal custody” or sole residential parent), then the change of circumstances must be a change in the circumstances of the child or legal custodian.  It does not matter if the parent who has visitation only, (or has no visitation but simply retains his or her residual parental rights) has changed his or her circumstances, even if his or her circumstances have changed substantially.

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Family Lawyer In OhioIn Alexander v. Alexander, 2013-Ohio-2349, (June 7, 2013), the court of appeals for Champaign County found that the trial court did not abuse it’s discretion when it overruled the Mother’s Motion to Change Allocation of Parental Rights and Responsibilities regarding her three children.  The children were in the custody of their paternal grandmother as a result of the agreement of the Mother and Father during their divorce.  The Mother had visitation (parenting time).

During the trial on the Mother’s Motion to Reallocate, Mother testified that she had been working for some time to make a more stable home for the children.  Among other things, Mother testified that she was employed and had lived in her apartment for a year and a half.  The trial court found that pursuant to Ohio Revised Code 3109.04(E)(1)(a), the change of circumstances must have occurred “in the circumstances of the child, the child’s residential parent, or either of the parents subject to a shared parenting decree“.  In this case, the changes were in the Mother’s circumstances.  In addition, the trial court found that the children have become more stable in the grandparents’ home, and so the “harm of a change in environment for the children outweighs any advantages that may have now arisen to justify a change.”

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Ohio Revised Code 3109.04(E)(1)(a) says that even if there HAS been a change in circumstances of the RIGHT person, the court should not change custody unless the change is in the child’s best interest AND one of the following is true:

(i) The residential parent agrees to a change in the residential parent or both parents under a shared parenting decree agree to a change in the designation of residential parent.

(ii) The child, with the consent of the residential parent or of both parents under a shared parenting decree, has been integrated into the family of the person seeking to become the residential parent.

(iii) The harm likely to be caused by a change of environment is outweighed by the advantages of the change of environment to the child.

Change of circumstances is complicated.  There is no statute that says “such and such is a change of circumstances”.  If you would like to consult with one of our Family Law Attorneys in Ohio, please give us a call.

CALL NOW  at (614) 225-9316 or contact us by e-mail.

DISCLAIMER – Read it, it’s important!

Comments

  1. L says

    December 21, 2017 at 6:59 am

    I’m the grandmother of3 children that has been taken away from their parents after seperated the mother has lost all children to child protective services they are refusing to let us have our grandkids they told me the first time they was taken that I will never get the kids… I did tell them someone called in on me about no food and my son was not taken care of when they came to investigate they told me they were sorry to have bothered me and left and for this reason children services refuses to run my husband and myself through the system we have had the parents and grandchildren live with us this year from January1st. Until may30th that’s when they seperated again I had to quit my job to take care of my grandkids because neither parents were taking care of the children the father has no job and is living with us they also are refusing to give him his children we were going to give him our home and find another place of residence so he could get his children out of children services .. The mother just lost the children around the 18th of December 2017 from drugs this is twice she has lost them for this reason I’m asking for help in getting my grandkids back with us where they belong and are truly loved and well cared for my husband is on disability and we can’t afford a lawyer and would love to find one that would help us retrieve our babies and bring them home to family that loves and desperately want them back please help us thank you L

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2. The info on our site is not legal advice because we don't know the facts of your case. If you want legal advice, you must meet with a lawyer.

3. Reading this website or sending documents to us does not create an attorney-client relationship and information or documents you give us will not be kept confidential unless you call us, tell us who is involved in your case, and let us do a conflict of interest check.

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  • Appeals
  • CERTIFIED SPECIALIST – OSBA Certified Family Relations Specialist
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  • Columbus Ohio Collaborative Family Law
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Recent Posts:

  • Appealing Your Ohio Family Law Judgment Entry
  • The Ohio LGBT community’s new right to marry also means the right to step-parent adoption
  • Ohio LGBT Shared Custody Agreements: Get it in Writing!
  • Columbus Ohio Same Sex Divorce Lawyer & Prenuptial Agreement Lawyer
  • Same Sex Divorce in Ohio: U.S. Supreme Court Strikes Down Bans on Same Sex Marriage

From our downtown Columbus offices we serve clients throughout Ohio. We also service areas such as Bexley, Blacklick, Columbus, Delaware, Dublin, Gahanna, Hilliard, Lancaster, Marysville, Westerville, New Albany, Newark, Pickerington, Plain City, Powell, Upper Arlington, Worthington, Lancaster, Zanesville and more. In addition, we serve clients in all Ohio Counties, including, but not limited to: Franklin County, Delaware, Licking, Logan, Fairfield, Union, Marion, Muskingum, Pickaway, Ross, Richland, Madison, Morrow, Knox, and more.

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Law Offices of Virginia C. Cornwell
408 Emory St
Columbus , OH , 43230
(614) 225-9316
Latitude: 40.00734
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