Summary
The Nebraska Supreme Court held that individuals who were not the biological or adoptive parents of a child’s parent did not qualify as grandparents under Nebraska’s grandparent-visitation statutes. The court vacated the visitation order and remanded with directions to dismiss, concluding that the statutory definition was plain and narrowly limited.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the Heidens had standing to bring an action for grandparent visitation.
- Whether persons who raised a child's parent but were not that parent's biological or adoptive parents qualify as grandparents under Nebraska's grandparent-visitation statutes.
- Whether the district court's visitation order should be vacated and the action dismissed.
Holdings
- The Heidens had standing to bring the action because standing concerns whether the party is properly situated to seek judicial determination of a claim, and the legal and factual validity of the claim must be assumed when standing is assessed.
- Under Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 43-1801 to 43-1803, a grandparent is the biological or adoptive parent of a minor child's biological or adoptive parent. Persons who raised the child's parent but were neither the parent's biological nor adoptive parents do not qualify.
- The district court erred in granting the Heidens' request for grandparent visitation; the order was vacated and the cause was remanded with directions to dismiss.
Key quotations
“But as we have said previously, the focus of the standing inquiry is “on the party, not the claim itself.”” (175)
“Because the plain language of the statutes provides that a grandparent is defined as the biological or adoptive parent of a minor child’s biological or adoptive parent, and because the Heidens failed to show that they were Katherine’s biological or adoptive parents—indeed the record in this case affirmatively shows that they were not Katherine’s biological or adoptive parents—the Heidens are not entitled to an order of visitation under §§ 43-1801 to 43-1803.” (178)
Factual background
Frederick and Ann Heiden raised Katherine Norris from the time she was three years old, but they were not her biological or adoptive parents. After Katherine and Tracy Norris divorced and Katherine died, the parties' three children lived with Tracy. The Heidens alleged that they had maintained a significant beneficial relationship with the children and sought grandparent visitation.
Procedural history
After Norris and Katherine Norris divorced, Katherine died, and the children remained in Norris's care. The Heidens filed a petition for grandparent visitation, obtained a default visitation order, and later obtained an amended order after Norris moved to vacate or alter the judgment. Norris appealed, arguing that the Heidens lacked standing because they were not Katherine's biological or adoptive parents. The Nebraska Supreme Court concluded that the Heidens had standing to assert the claim but were not grandparents within the statutory definition, vacated the visitation order, and remanded with directions to dismiss.
Remand instructions
Vacate the district court's order of visitation and remand with directions to dismiss the action.