Facts: Mother has Adult Children from an earlier relationship. Mother married Father, and they have three minor children (triplets). Adult Children are close to their half-siblings, the triplets.

Mother died. Father remarried and moved to Georgia with the three minor children.

Father cut off all communication between Adult Children and their half-sibling triplets.

Adult Children petitioned for court-ordered visitation with their half-siblings, unrestricted communication, and the right to know about and attend the minor children’s school functions.

Father moved to dismiss the petition for lack of standing and failure to state a claim on which relief can be granted.

The trial court dismissed because Adult Children do not have standing to seek visitation with their siblings.

Adult Children appealed.

On Appeal: The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court.

Those who are not a child’s biological parent do not have the same constitutionally protected rights possessed by a biological parent. When faced with competing custody claims by a biological parent and a third party, Tennessee courts must favor the biological parent.

The Constitution requires that natural parents have a presumption of “superior parental rights” regarding the custody of their children. Parental rights are superior to the rights of others and continue without interruption unless a biological parent consents to relinquish them, abandons their child, or forfeits their parental rights by some conduct that substantially harms the child.

Tennessee law provides that certain classes of people, i.e., biological and adoptive parents, grandparents, and stepparents of minor children, can ask for court-ordered visitation under certain circumstances. Half-siblings are not one of those groups.

The Court agreed with the trial court that Adult Children have no right to compel visitation with their minor half-siblings:

Currently, there is a statute allowing courts to grant visitation rights to non-parents even if the parents’ rights have not been terminated. Commonly referred to as the “grandparent visitation statute,” Tennessee Code Annotated § 36-6-306(a) provides grandparent standing to pursue court-ordered visitation with their minor grandchildren if visitation is opposed by the custodial parent or parents or if the grandparent visitation has been severely reduced by the custodial parent or parents. Notably, however, siblings do not come within the class of people to whom the statute allows courts to grant visitation. This Court is constrained by the limited circumstances in which the Gen. Assembly has authorized Tennessee courts to grant visitation to nonparents, and those circumstances do not exist in this case.

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Like the [trial] court, this Court does appreciate the desires of [Adult Children] to continue to foster a relationship with their half-siblings; however, this Court is simply without legislative authority to mandate such, and must exercise appropriate judicial restraint by denying such a well-intended request. Appellants lack standing, and this Court has no power to grant them visitation rights with the minor children.

The Court affirmed the trial court’s ruling.

K.O.’s Comment: This is consistent with In re B.E.D., a 2004 opinion where the Court of Appeals held there is no statutory authority granting an adult half-sibling visitation rights with a minor child.

Source: Arnold v. Witt (Tennessee Court of Appeals, Middle Section, July 18, 2024).

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