Our son and his wife divorced in 1993. Since then, our son has moved away and is late

[mamhelp]

The Ohio Legislature passed laws in 1990 that provide a method for grandparents of divorced or deceased parents to get visitation orders so that they can maintain relationships with their grandchildren. Grandparents may also obtain court-ordered visitation with an illegitimate child. In addition, grandparents may intervene in the parents' divorce case at any time, even after the divorce has been granted, and ask the court to award them their own visitation schedule with their grandchildren. Grandparents may also file a complaint for companionship in juvenile court in cases where the grandchild is illegitimate or where their own child is deceased and they are having trouble visiting his or her offspring. The 1990 Ohio laws provide that a court may order visitation if it determines this to be in the best interest of the children. However, the constitutionality of these laws may be called into question following a U.S. Supreme Court case (Troxell v. Granville) decided in June 2000. In the future, Ohio grandparents may have to show compelling reasons why a court should order grandparent visitation over a parent's objection.