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An Act To Strengthen the Rights of Grandparents under the Grandparents Visitation Act
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  19-A MRSA §1802, sub-§2  is enacted to read:
 
2.  Sufficient existing relationship.     "Sufficient existing relationship" means a relationship between the child and the grandparent in which the grandparent is playing or has played a significant beneficial role in the child's life. "Sufficient existing relationship" includes, but is not limited to, a relationship in which the grandparent has acted as a parent to the child.
 
SUMMARY
This bill amends the Grandparents Visitation Act to provide a definition of "significant existing relationship." A grandparent who can prove a sufficient existing relationship with a grandchild has standing to seek contact with the child. This new definition provides that a grandparent who proves that the grandparent is playing or has played a significant beneficial role in the child's life can establish standing to proceed with the action. This bill makes clear that, although acting as a parent to a child meets the requirements of a "sufficient existing relationship" with a child, that is not the only relationship that meets the requirements.