In re Jamison

In 2005, nine-year-old Jamison and three of his siblings became the wards of their maternal aunt and her spouse (together, “guardians”). Two years later, the guardians voluntarily terminated their guardianship of Jamison, and Jamison was placed in the permanent custody of the Department of Children and Families (DCF). Jamison subsequently petitioned the juvenile court for visitation with two of his siblings. A juvenile court judge ordered supervised visitation with all three children over the guardians’ objection. The Supreme Court vacated the order allowing the motion for sibling visitation and remanded for further proceedings, holding (1) the juvenile court has subject matter jurisdiction over a sibling visitation petition where the petitioning child is in DCF custody and his siblings are wards subject to guardianship; (2) the presumption of validity afforded parental decisions regarding grandparent visitation recognized in Blixt v. Blixt does extend to the judgments of fit guardians in such circumstances; and (3) there was insufficient information to inform the judge’s determination whether visitation would serve the interests of all three children. View "In re Jamison" on Justia Law