In a new decision from the Appeals Court, a maternal grandmother's petition for visitation rights over the objection of the father, was remanded to Probate and Family court, rejecting a motion to dismiss by the father. The grandmothers pleadings were deemed sufficient to show visitation may be necessary to protect the child from significant harm. The case, Sher v. Desmond, 70 Mass. App. Ct. 270 is unusual in that the grandmother had never had contact with the child. The circumstances of the mother's disappearance, and her likely abuse by the father were deemed sufficient in the pleadings to reject a dismissal. The mother is missing to this day, her case unsolved.
See our page on Grandparents' Visitation, and Domestic Violence.
