An Act To Revise the Grandparents Visitation Act
Maine Legislature, Session 128, LD 1670
Committee Amendment CA_A_H597 (House)
Committee: Judiciary

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "ff" to H.P. 1157, L.D. 1670, Bill, "An Act To 
Revise the Grandparents Visitation Act" 
Amend the bill in section 1 by striking out all of subsection 2 (page 1, lines 3 to 9 in 
L.D.) and inserting the following: 
'2. 
Sufficient existing relationship. 
"Sufficient existing relationship" means a 
relationship involving extraordinary contact between a grandparent and a child, including 
but not limited to circumstances in which the grandparent has been a primary caregiver 
and custodian of the child for a significant period of time.' 
Amend the bill in section 2 in subsection 1 in paragraph B in the last line (page 1, line 
in L.D.) by striking out the following: 
11er
and inserting the following: 'or' 
Amend the bill in section 2 in subsection 1 by striking out all of paragraph D (page 1, 
lines 20 and 21 in L.D.) 
Amend the bill in section 2 in subsection 1 by relettering the paragraphs to read 
alphabetically. 
Amend the bill in section 6 in § 1806 by striking out all of the indented paragraph 
(page 3, lines 21 to 24 in L.D.) and inserting the following: 
'Nothing in this chapter limits a grandparent's ability to file any action not governed 
by the provisions of this chapter with respect to a child, including but not limited to an 
action to establish de facto parentage of a child under section 1891, an action for 
guardianship of a child under Title 18-A, Article 5 and a child protection petition under 
Title 22, section 4032, subsection 1, paragraph C.' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment is the report of the Joint Standing Committee on Judiciary. It 
amends the substantive test for a grandparent's standing to seek access to or visitation 
with a child under the Grandparents Visitation Act to add clarity. To establish standing 
under the amendment, the grandparent must show either that the grandparent has a 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMJ.TTEEAMENDMENT'H"toH.P. 1157,L.D.1670 
sufficient existing relationship with the child or the existence of any other compelling 
state interest that justifies the court's interference with the parent's fundamental right to 
deny the grandparent access to the child. 
The amendment also removes reference to the de facto parentage standard in the bill's 
definition of the type of sufficient existing relationship that confers standing on a 
grandparent. Under the amendment, "sufficient existing relationship" is defined as a 
relationship involving extraordinaiy contact between the grandparent and the child, 
including but not limited to circumstances where the grandpai·ent has been a primary 
caregiver and custodian of the child for a significant period of time. This definition of 
"sufficient existing relationship" is intended to codifiy the Law Court1s decisions in 
Rideout v. Riendeau, 2000 ME 198, 761 A.2d 291, and Robichaud v. Pariseau, 2003 ME 
54, 820 A.2d 1212. 
The amendment also clarifies that a grandparent's ability to join with 2 or more other 
persons and file a child protection petition is not limited by the Grandparents Visitation 
Act. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT