Opinion ID: 855048
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Necessity of Troxel Findings.

Text: Applying those principles to this case reveals that the trial court’s findings, though proper so far as they go, are incomplete. As discussed above, trial courts must consider all four Troxel principles, as distilled by McCune and made mandatory by K.I. All three members of the Court of Appeals panel recognized that necessity and acknowledged the trial court had made no express findings on at least two of those factors. But the majority believed the findings sufficiently addressed those factors by implication, so that the omission was one of form, not substance. The dissent, by contrast, saw no consideration of the first two factors even implicitly and thus found the order constitutionally defective. We agree with the dissent and find that the trial court’s order was not constitutionally permissible. The first three required factors implement the constitutionally protected right of fit parents to make child rearing decisions, and reflect the significant burden of proof grandparents must carry to override those decisions. Here, though, the order is insufficient as to all three. As to the first two 5 factors, none of the trial court’s findings give any indication that it recognized the “presumption that a fit parent acts in his or her child’s best interests,” or gave “special weight . . . to a fit parent’s decision to deny or limit visitation.” K.I., 903 N.E.2d at 462. Both factors are key to a constitutionally appropriate balance between a natural parent’s fundamental rights and a child’s best interests — and without findings reflecting that balance, a grandparent-visitation order is not constitutionally permissible. We agree with Judge Barnes’ dissent that the absence of those findings here is not simply an issue of “form over substance.” Those omissions, standing alone, would render this order unconstitutional. But in light of the extensive amount of visitation awarded, we also find it necessary to address the third factor: “whether the parent has denied visitation or has simply limited visitation.” K.I., 903 N.E.2d at 462. Again, this factor defines what interest of the child’s is at stake. If visitation has been denied unreasonably, then the stakes are whether the child will have any relationship with the grandparents, McCune, 783 N.E.2d at 759, which may strengthen the case for judicial intervention. But when a parent has already offered visitation voluntarily, albeit within reasonable limits, it is not the existence of a relationship at stake, but only on whose terms it will be. Id. In that event, a grandparent-visitation order particularly implicates the danger of “infring- [ing] on the fundamental right of parents to make child rearing decisions simply because [a court] believes a ‘better’ decision could be made.” Troxel, 530 U.S. at 72–73 (plurality opinion). Here, the trial court found a “denial” of visitation in the months leading up to the trial, concluding that Mother curtailed visitation after the adoption was filed in an effort “to end the relationship” between M.L.B. and Grandfather. But it is also undisputed that, for several years leading up to that denial, Mother had merely limited the amount of visitation — consenting to regular, meaningful visitation between M.L.B. and Grandfather, but rarely if ever overnight, and never for any extended trips out of state. While Mother’s recent denial of visitation is certainly relevant under Troxel, so is the parties’ earlier pattern, because it suggests an amount of visitation that might be awarded without unduly interfering in Mother’s fundamental right to direct M.L.B.’s upbringing. Though the trial court was within its discretion to order some degree of visitation to ensure that M.L.B.’s relationship with Grandfather would continue, the amount of visitation awarded far exceeds the parties’ earlier pattern. It even exceeds what Grandfather requested in this action, providing instead for two overnights per month, an annual 10-day trip out of state, and other 6 visitation — which is nearly identical to the order Troxel overturned. 530 U.S. at 71. Also, the order gives no consideration to Mother’s previously-imposed “limit” that Father not be present during grandparent visits — a condition that seems particularly important now that Stepfather’s adoption of M.L.B. is complete, so that his rights as a legal parent must also be protected. Ordering such extensive visitation, without the required findings to indicate why Mother’s prior limitations on duration and Father’s presence were unreasonable, or how the sudden increase in visitation would affect M.L.B., risks exactly what Troxel forbids: “infring[ing] on the fundamental right of parents to make child rearing decisions” by substituting a court’s own judgment of what would be “a ‘better’ decision.” Id. at 72–73. We end our analysis with the fourth factor: the child’s best interests. In this regard, the trial court’s findings are amply supported by the evidence. The court found that M.L.B. barely knows his largely absent biological father, but has had a good and consistent relationship with Grandfather and the paternal extended family for his entire lifetime, and he often sees them two to four times per month and for major holidays. The court further found that M.L.B. calls Grandfather “Grandpa,” and Grandfather’s wife “Grandma,” and has a loving, positive relationship with them. Those findings support the conclusion that “[i]t is in [M.L.B.’s] best interests to continue to have regular and meaningful contact with [Grandfather].” The best-interests factor is satisfied here. As we observed in K.I., “although the amount of visitation is left to the sound discretion of the trial court, the Grandparent Visitation Act contemplates only occasional, temporary visitation that does not substantially infringe on a parent’s fundamental right to control the upbringing, education, and religious training of their children.” 903 N.E.2d at 462 (internal citations, quotations, and substitutions omitted). Accordingly, despite the trial court’s ample “best interests” findings, the lack of findings on the other three factors, both standing alone and as compounded by the extensive visitation awarded without those necessary findings, violates Mother’s fundamental right to direct M.L.B.’s upbringing.