The Maine Law Court has ruled that even if grandparents act as parents — in essence claim that they are the de facto parents, they have no grounds to seek parental rights over the objections of the real parents absent making a prima facie case that they were de facto parents.
This is a cautionary tale for those grandparents who take over raising their grandchildren for a period of time thinking that they have more rights than they actually do under Maine law.
Read the case of Philbrook v. Theriault for more details.
