A Macomb County family court arbitrator scheduled a future hearing to discuss visitation issues regarding the Grant children.
Alicia Standerfer and her husband were ordered to court to explain why they should not go to jail for refusing to allow the two children in their care to see their grandmother.
Recommended Videos
Standerfer is the sister of Tara Grant, who was murdered and dismembered by her husband, Stephen Grant, in 2007.
A judge had ordered Standerfer to allow Stephen Grant's mother to see the children.
Standerfer's attorney, Michael J. Smith, said because Grant had lost his parental rights, his mother had no legal right to see the children.
Smith maintains that his clients did nothing wrong, and that the situation is not healthy for the children.
"The children have gone through so much," he said. "Now they have to go back to the same court where they tried Stephen Grant and found him guilty and it's a shame."
"Going back into the courtroom for issues with the children obviously is very hard," Standerfer said. "Because we're been trying all along to work in the best interest of the kids and we are going to continue to do that."
Smith said the Grant family did ask to visit with the children but said the request was tasteless. He said the family asked to see the children on Mother's Day weekend, the first Mother's Day without their mother.
"It's just sad that she has to come back into the same court again after this tragedy of events," said Smith.
"It's disheartening that we can't just move on with our lives and continue to nurture the children and guide them in the right direction," Standerfer said. "It's highly unfortunate that we have to go back up to Michigan."
Standerfer maintains that the children are doing "very well."
On Dec. 21, a Macomb County jury found Stephen Grant, 38, guilty of second-degree murder after he confessed to strangling Tara Grant, cutting her body apart with saw blades and leaving some of her body parts in Stony Creek Metro Park.
Stephen Grant is serving 50 to 80 years in prison for the murder of his wife and another six to 10 years for the mutilation of her body.