Just like those of moms and dads, the roles of grandparents are of great importance in the lives of children.

Grandparent Again
Provides recipes, stories and insightful information including grandparents-as-caregivers meetings near you.

Grandparents for Children
purports to protect the rights of grandparents to secure their grandchildren's health, happiness and well-being.

Massachusetts Information for Grandparents
The Massachusetts Bar Association provides information regarding the visitation rights of grandparents.

Some of the following research reports and articles are accessible via the Internet. Others are not accessible on the web as they require a password, such as those law review articles found on Lexis Nexis and Westlaw. Articles may be found in your local library or law library.

Trapani, Jeffrey J. Grandparent Visitation Rights in Massachusetts after Troxel: Blixt v. Blixt. 38 New. Eng. L. Rev. 759 (2004) (PDF format)
Discusses the case of Blixt v. Blixt which was decided by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in 2002. The court held that grandparent visitation statutes were not infringing upon a parent's constitutional rights, despite the recent decision of the United States Supreme Court in which such third-party visitations were deemed to be unconstitutional.

Massachusetts Case Law

Blixt v. Blixt 437 Mass. 649 (Mass. 2002)
(MS Word format)
Maternal grandfather seeks visitation right, suing the child's mother and adjudicated father under the Grandparents Visitation Act (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 119, § 39D). The lower court held the statute to be unconstitutional as alleged, yet on direct appeal, the Supreme Judicial Court found there to be no cause of action for a violation of the mother's due process rights: the statute survives strict scrutiny because the state purpose was compelling and the means of attaining such a purpose narrowly tailored. See the Grandparent's Visitation Act.