Visitation with a Stepchild

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The court does not have jurisdiction to make rulings about THIS child in THIS divorce. The child is not a product of the marriage. This divorce does not involve the child in the legal sense.

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Another good explanation of the same thing we've all been saying. The nail just keeps getting hit on the head. Eventually it will either be understood, or we'll all bore ourselves to death over the repetition and let the thread die. Either way, the OP has been given correct information.

The "law" in this area is evolving and sadly, it is at the complete unbridled discretion of a judge. For those on this site that think custody and visitation are reserved for parents only absent a precipitating event, that is not the case. R.C. 2151.23(A)(2) gives anyone the "right" to seek custody of any child not a ward of another court and in doing so, a petitioner may get visitation. See In Re LaPiana and Rowell v. Smith. The 2011 reference to Rowell vs. Smith above was reversed by the Ohio Supreme Court who held that a non parent petitioner may get visitation of a child while a custody petition is pending - even if the parent is suitable. When you read these cases you may think these instances are rare and limited to a specific factual scenario but there is nothing in these decisions that limit who may request custody/visitation or when a judge may grant such a request - the cases are all over the board. I know because I am the Smith in Rowell v. Smith and I have a federal case pending right now challenging the constitutionality of this statute. Parents Beware.

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Quoting jsmith1965

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The "law" in this area is evolving and sadly, it is at the complete unbridled discretion of a judge. For those on this site that think custody and visitation are reserved for parents only absent a precipitating event, that is not the case. R.C. 2151.23(A)(2) gives anyone the "right" to seek custody of any child not a ward of another court and in doing so, a petitioner may get visitation. See In Re LaPiana and Rowell v. Smith. The 2011 reference to Rowell vs. Smith above was reversed by the Ohio Supreme Court who held that a non parent petitioner may get visitation of a child while a custody petition is pending - even if the parent is suitable. When you read these cases you may think these instances are rare and limited to a specific factual scenario but there is nothing in these decisions that limit who may request custody/visitation or when a judge may grant such a request - the cases are all over the board. I know because I am the Smith in Rowell v. Smith and I have a federal case pending right now challenging the constitutionality of this statute. Parents Beware.

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That's a very interesting case.

But it's also very different to the OP's situation; yours is discussing temporary visitation pending a shared custody matter. OP isn't asking for custody (and thus can't use the same argument).

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Quoting Dogmatique

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That's a very interesting case.

But it's also very different to the OP's situation; yours is discussing temporary visitation pending a shared custody matter. OP isn't asking for custody (and thus can't use the same argument).

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I agree...and will repeat that the court hearing the OP's divorce would not have jurisdiction to decide anything about the husband's child in their divorce case. Nor could the OP even file a separate petition asking for custody or shared custody of the child. Well, I suppose that she could but she would totally get shot down for lack of standing.