As of 2013[update], all US states have statutes that permit non-parents to ask a court to grant them the legal right to maintain ongoing contact with a child.
They held that in order for state laws to be constitutional, three things need to be in the law: The Supreme Court ultimately ruled that the statute impermissibly interfered with a parents fundamental right to raise their child as they saw fit in that the statute was “breathtakingly over broad” and allowed anyone, biologically related or not, to, at any time, petition the court for an order granting them contact with a child.
State courts considering non-parent visitation petitions must apply "a presumption that fit parents act in the best interests of their children.".
[3] Troxel requires that state courts must give "deference" or some special weight to a fit parent's decision to deny non-parent visitation.
"[4] This principle must inform the understanding of the "special weight" that Troxel requires courts to give to parents' decisions concerning their choices regarding how the grandparents will associate with their children.