Matthew Smith and Vickie Smith v. Ashley Durham and Jacob Warner

Shawnee, Oklahoma family law lawyers represented petitioners and respondents in a grandparent visitation case.

¶1 Matthew and Vickie Smith (Grandparents, or Grandfather and Grandmother) appeal a journal entry of judgment denying their Petition for Grandparental Visitation Rights, entered February 1, 2022, to which the custodial parent, Ashley Durham (Mother), objected.1 Grandparents assert they met their burden under 43 O.S.2021, § 109.4, by demonstrating their own child, Charles Smith (Smith), was unfit. Alternatively, they asserted they rebutted the presumption Mother was acting in the minor child's best interests by denying visitation. On review of the record, the briefs and the applicable law, we find the trial court did not err in determining Grandparents were required to show Mother was unfit and did not abuse its discretion by determining Grandparents had failed to meet their burden by demonstrating E.R.S. would suffer harm or potential harm without grandparental visitation.



Smith v. Durham (In re E.R.S.), 538 P.3d 565 (Okla. Civ. App. 2023)

Affirmed