On 11 June 2013, in the case of Porter v. Hill, the Michigan Court of Appeals held that terminating a parent’s parental rights also terminates the grandparents’ right to grandparenting time.

Under the Child Custody Act of 1970, grandparents derive their rights to grandparenting time from their child. As a result, the termination of their child’s parental rights also terminates their right to grandparenting time. When a parent’s parental rights are terminated, that parent is no longer the legal parent of the child, which further means that the grandparents are no longer the legal grandparents of the child.