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Third Party Rights:

There is no longer a grandparents rights statute in Oregon, however, Oregon does have special laws that apply to the rights of non-parents such as grandparents, stepparents and others. That means that non-parents can petition a court for rights of parenting time or custody as long as there have been “...established emotional ties creating a child-parent relationship or an ongoing personal relationship.” However, the burden is high to overcome the objection of a parent. The following are some laws, as of 1/1/05 which apply to this area of the law:

ORS 107.119(2)(a) presumes that the legal parent is acting in the best interest of the child.
ORS 107.119(2)(b) requires court findings supporting rebuttal of that presumption before relief can be granted to a non-parent.
ORS 107.119(3)(a) provides that if the relationship has been established and rebuttal has been proven, the court can grant custody or visitation if it is in the best interests of the child, including temporary rights.
ORS 107.119(3)(a) requires rebuttal by a preponderance. Before it can grant custody, visitation, etc. to someone with “parent child” relationship.
ORS 107.119(3)(b) requires rebuttal by clear and convincing evidence before visitation or contact rights can be granted to someone with an “ongoing personal relationship”.
ORS 109.119(4)(a) addresses statutory factors to be considered for rebuttal and best interests for purposes of visitation. These include detriment to the child, the legal parents contribution to the relationship, interference with custodial relationships, denial of contact & whether the moving party has been a primary caretaker (i.e. stepparent).
ORS 109.119(4)(b) addresses statutory factors to be considered for rebuttal and best interests for purposes of custody or guardianship. These include inability or unwillingness to adequately care for the child; detriment to the child; the legal parent’s contribution to that relationship; interference with custodial relationships; denial of contact; and whether the moving party has been a primary caretaker (i.e. stepparent).
ORS 109.119(5) specifically talks about stepparent rights in dissolutions and modifications.
ORS 119.119(8) contains many definitions but the key points are that a “child parent relationship” must have existed within the past 6 months and an “ongoing personal relationship” must have existed for the past year.
ORS 109.332 provides for GRANDPARENT VISITATION IN ADOPTIONS.

A grandparent can file for visitation within 30 days of service of the adoption petition but visitation will be granted only upon a showing of clear and convincing evidence that there had been a prior substantial relationship and that the visitation will not substantially interfere with the adoptive family.

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