Mother and fathers are not the only people a Charlottesville Child Custody Lawyer can assist. In exceptional circumstances, Grandparents also may receive custody of or visitation with their grandchildren. This is exactly what happened in the case of Buffington v. Bates. In this case, a mother lost custody of her child to the child's grandparents because the mother voluntarily relinquished the child to their care, the mother was unfit, and because of other special facts and circumstances existed that justified the award. In a custody dispute between a parent and a non-parent, the law presumes that the child’s best interests will be served when in the custody of its parent. Although the presumption favoring a parent over a non-parent is a strong one, it is rebutted when certain factors are established by clear and convincing evidence of any one or more of the following five factors: (1) parental unfitness; (2) a previous order of divestiture; (3) voluntary relinquishment; . . . (4) abandonment . . . or (5) a finding of special facts and circumstances . . . constituting an extraordinary reason for taking a child from its parent, or parents.The trial court held that the grandparents rebutted the parental presumption by producing clear and convincing evidence that mother was unfit, she voluntarily relinquished the child to their care, and other special facts and circumstances.
Rob Hagy, Charlottesville Child Custody Attorney