H. B. 4726
(By Delegates Morgan and Craig)
[Introduced February 22, 2006; referred to the committee on the
Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto two new sections, designated §48-10-204 and
§48-10-302,all relating to allowing non-grandparent family
member to petition the court in order to be granted
grandparent rights of visitation of a minor child.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto two new sections, designated §48-10-204 and §48-
10-302, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 10. GRANDPARENT VISITATION.
PART 2. DEFINITIONS.
§48-10-204. "Non-grandparent family member" defined.
"Non-grandparent family member" means any person related to
the child by lineal or collateral consanguinity that has not been previously been granted custody of a parent of a minor child with
whom visitation is sought.
PART 3. APPLICATION TO THE CIRCUIT COURT
FOR GRANDPARENT VISITATION.
§48-10-302. Special family relationship petition.
A non-grandparent family member may petition the court to be
considered and treated as a grandparent, pursuant to section three
hundred-two, and the court may at its discretion grant the motion
for the person to be considered as a grandparent for purposes of
being granted visitation pursuant to this article, upon the finding
of the court that no grandparent eligible to apply for visitation
has so applied and that the Court finds that the person has a
special family relationship to the child, similar to that and
consistent with a grandparent, and that the findings and
determinations of sections five hundred-one and five hundred-two of
this article have been met, then the court may so designate the
petitioner as a grandparent consistent with the provisions of this
article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to
allow a non-grandparent
family member to petition the court in order to be granted
grandparent rights of visitation of a minor child, in the case that
the minor child do not have grandparents.
These sections are new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
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