Adoption Did Not Sever Grandparents' Visitation Rights

Wow, leave it to Georgia to throw family law attorneys for a loop.

Most states have statutes that regulate visitation rights for grandparents.  And the statutes vary greatly from state to state.  Most of the time, when an adoption is granted, the rights of the biological family members are terminated.  However, Georgia's statute has an exception - if a biological parent OR step-parent adopts the child, then grandparents may still petition the court for visitation.

The statute in Arkansas does not have this exception.  But could this Georgia case be used to argue otherwise?  Or maybe persuade the legislature to expand visitation rights for grandparents?

Stay tuned.

Here's the Georgia case