Alabama Senate passes grandparents visitation rights bill

The Alabama Senate passed a bill this week that would give grandparents visitation rights to their grandchildren. The bill has previously passed the Alabama House of Representatives in April and it now heads to the Governor for his signature.

The grandparents rights bill (HB 348) was sponsored by Representative Harry Shiver of Bay Minette. It is nicknamed the “Grandparent’s Bill.”

The bill was pushed by supporter Richard Deblase of Mobile who lost his grandchildren when they were killed by their father and stepmother in 2010. Deblase attempted to get visitation with his grandchildren before they were killed but the parents never allowed it.

“We need to protect our grandchildren as much as possible. If this can help one child, it’s worth it,” said Deblase according to FOX10tv.com. “This will at least enable the person to see the condition the grandchildren are under and possibly be able to help them. If you don’t know, you can’t help.”

Different states have different grandparents rights statutes since the laws splintered after the 2000 Troxell Supreme Court decision. I wrote extensively about this issue in my recent book No Greater Loss.