Ex Parte Palmer

We issued the writ of certiorari in this case to review the question whether the circuit court has jurisdiction to hear a complaint by a grandparent seeking visitation rights with a grandchild who has been adopted by a stepparent.

Raymond Carlton Bolton adopted his stepdaughter pursuant to an adoption judgment entered, with the consent of the child's natural father, by the probate court of Franklin County. Mattie Palmer, the child's paternal grandmother, subsequently filed a complaint in the Lauderdale Circuit Court, seeking visitation rights with her granddaughter.1 The trial court entered a…