823 S.E.2d 212
S.C. Ct. App.2019Background
- Child born March 2012 to Mother and Father; Father died in April 2013. Grandmother is paternal grandmother.
- Relationship between Mother and Grandmother deteriorated after Father's death; Mother lived with her parents and limited Grandmother's contact to supervised visits due to hostility and the child's young age.
- Grandmother sought unsupervised visitation and filed suit in February 2014 after multiple unsuccessful text exchanges requesting visits.
- Grandmother had only two substantive in-person visits with Child before trial (one at time of father’s death, one supervised mediation visit in Nov. 2014).
- Family court found Mother unreasonably denied visitation for over 90 days and ordered regular fourth-weekend visitation; Mother appealed.
Issues
| Issue | Grandmother's Argument | Mother's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether Grandmother was "unreasonably deprived" of opportunity to visit for >90 days under S.C. Code §63-3-530(33) | Mother unreasonably withheld visits by imposing supervision and obstructing contact | Mother offered reasonable supervised visits repeatedly; Grandmother refused supervision and thus declined offered access | Court: Grandmother was not unreasonably deprived; Mother’s imposition of supervised visits was reasonable; family court erred in finding 90-day deprivation (reversed) |
| Whether court could order visitation under the statute given the factual record | Grandmother: statutory prerequisites met; compelling circumstances (only grandchild of deceased son) | Mother: statute not satisfied because deprivation prong failed and parents' decision should be respected | Court: Because deprivation prong not met, family court lacked authority to order visitation; did not reach other statutory prongs |
Key Cases Cited
- Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57 (parental fundamental right to make decisions about child custody)
- Simmons v. Simmons, 392 S.C. 412 (standards for appellate review in family court matters)
- Camburn v. Smith, 355 S.C. 574 (parents hold superior position over grandparents in visitation disputes)
- Massman v. Massman, 505 S.W.3d 406 (grandparents cannot discount reasonable, limited visits to manufacture a >90-day unreasonable denial)
- In re Visitation of C.S.N., 14 N.E.3d 753 (parental allowance of limited visitation weighs against court intervention)