An Act To Prohibit a Person Whose Parental Rights Have Been Terminated from Gaining Custody of a Grandchild
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 0528
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: CLARK
Amends: 18-A MRSA §5, 19-A MRSA §1653, 19-A MRSA §1803

Legislative Document 
No. 528 
H.P.373 
House of Representatives, Febmary 12, 2009 
An Act To Prohibit a Person Whose Parental Rights Have Been 
Terminated from Gaining Custody of a Grandchild 
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Representative CLARK of Millinocket. 
Printed on recycled paper 
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MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 18-A MRSA §5-206, as amended by PL 2005, c. 371, §3, is further 
amended to read: 
§5-206. Court appointment of guardian of minor; qualifications; priority of minor's 
nominee 
The court may appoint as guardian any person, or as coguardians more than one 
person, whose appointment is in the best interest of the minor. The court shall set forth in 
the order of appointment the basis for determining that the appointment is in the best 
interest of the minor. The court shall appoint a person nominated by the minor, if the 
minor is 14 years of age or older, unless the court fmds the appointment contrary to the 
best interest of the minor. The court may not appoint a guardian for a minor child who 
will be removed from this State for the purpose of adoption. The appointment of the 
grandparent of a child whose parental rights with respect to any child have been 
terminated under Title 22, chapter 1071 or comparable law in another state is not in the 
best interest of the child and the court may not appoint such a person as guardian of the 
person's grandchild. 
Sec. 2. 19-A MRSA §1653, sub-§2, errC, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 694, Pt. B, §2 
and affected by Pt. E, §2, is amended to read: 
C. The court may award parental rights and responsibilities with respect to the child 
to a 3rd person, a suitable society or institution for the care and protection of children 
or the department, upon a finding that awarding parental rights and responsibilities to 
either or both parents will place the child in jeopardy as defmed in Title 22, section 
4002, subsection 6. The court may not award parental rights and responsibilities to a 
person who is the grandparent of the child if the person's parental rights with respect 
to any child have been terminated under Title 22, chapter 1071 or comparable law in 
another state. 
Sec. 3. 19-A MRSA §1803, sub-§9 is enacted to read: 
9. Ineligible if parental rights terminated. A grandparent may not be awarded 
rights of contact if the grandparent's parental rights with respect to any child have been 
terminated under Title 22, chapter 1071 or comparable law in another state. 
SUMMARY 
This bill amends the parental rights and responsibilities laws to ensure that a court 
does not award parental rights and responsibilities to a grandparent whose parental rights 
to any child have been terminated. It also prohibits the court from awarding rights of 
contact to a grandparent whose parental rights to any child have been terminated. This 
bill also amends the Probate Code to provide that appointment of a person as the guardian 
of that person's grandchild is not in the best interest of the child if the person's parental 
rights with respect to any child have been terminated and that such an appointment may 
not be made. 
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