SUMMARY: Once parental rights of a child have been terminated, the natural parents of the parent whose rights have been terminated are not entitled as a matter of right to continue visitation.
Godfrey Ditter and Lorena Ditter, paternal grandparents to the two minor children, sought to intervene in a juvenile proceeding. The juvenile court held the Ditters had no standing. The father’s parental rights were terminated following a conviction and life sentence for killing the children’s mother. The paternal grandparents sought to obtain visitation rights to the children.
The Nebraska Supreme Court held that parents of a parent whose parental rights have been terminated have no right to visitation. One purpose of terminating parental rights is to divest any ties with the parent so the children can find a new, permanent family. Little would be served by letting the grandparents maintain contact with the children. Additionally, there is no purpose in delaying the severing of ties until after adoption because it would only make adoption more difficult.