Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken: An Update on Grandparent Visitation

Grandparents in Florida have been fighting for the right to visit their grandchildren for a long time. The state’s government branches, like the legislature and the courts, have been arguing over whether or not grandparents should have this right. Recently, the Florida Supreme Court made a decision that allows grandparents from out of state to visit their grandchildren, even without proving it’s necessary. This is a big deal for grandparents in Florida. In 1978, Florida passed laws that let grandparents go to court for the right to visit their grandkids. These laws were later expanded in 1984 to cover more situations where the grandparents could ask for visitation. In 1990, a court case challenged these laws, but the court said Florida had a good reason to make them. Then in 1993, the laws were expanded again to cover even more situations. But in 1996, the Florida Supreme Court made a decision that made it harder for grandparents to get visitation rights. The First District originally said a law was okay, but then changed its mind. The Florida Supreme Court said that the law wasn’t okay because it interfered with a parent’s right to privacy, which is really important. The Florida Supreme Court ruled that the state cannot interfere with a parent’s right to raise their child unless the child is at risk of harm. They found that a law allowing grandparents to seek custody of a child living with them was unconstitutional because it didn’t prioritize the parent’s rights. This decision was confirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court, which said that a parent’s rights should be considered first when it comes to grandparent visitation. It’s up to each state to decide the specific rules for grandparent visitation. In Florida, the state Constitution gives people the right to privacy and the courts have ruled that this right is even stronger than the privacy right in the U.S. Constitution. This means the state can’t interfere in a parent’s right to raise their kids, unless the child is in danger. There’s also a law that protects military parents from having their custody orders changed while they’re on duty, and it allows them to designate a grandparent to visit their kids if they can’t be there. In 2015, Florida passed a law allowing grandparents to ask for visitation rights if their grandchild’s parents are deceased, missing, in a vegetative state, or if one parent is convicted of a serious crime or poses a threat to the child. The grandparent must prove that the parent is unfit and that visitation is in the child’s best interest. There are specific factors the court must consider. However, enforcing out-of-state visitation court orders has been difficult. For example, in M.S. v. D.C., Jr., a father in Connecticut got custody of his kids after a divorce, but then he committed a serious crime and the mother got custody. The case had complicated legal issues. After a divorce, a court order said the grandparents could visit their grandkids. The kids’ mom moved to Florida and tried to end their dad’s rights. The grandparents asked for visitation, and the court said yes. But then a higher court said no, because it violated the family’s privacy rights. In another case, a dad in the Navy put his kids with their grandparents in Florida after their mom died. The mom’s mom wanted visitation and got it in Virginia. When the dad moved to Florida, they fought about where visits should happen and what the kids should know about their mom. The court said the Virginia order had to be followed, but the dad said that was wrong. The mother and father got divorced in Colorado, and the father died shortly after. The mother moved to Florida with the kids, but the paternal grandparents in Colorado wanted visitation rights. The Colorado court said the grandparents could have visitation, and the mother tried to change that in Florida, but the Florida court said the Colorado decision still stands. The Florida Supreme Court ruled that a Colorado court’s decision on child visitation rights must be enforced in Florida, even if it goes against Florida’s own laws. This means that the decision of one state must be respected by other states, even if they have different laws. This decision overruled the beliefs of lower courts and affirmed that the legal principle of full faith and credit requires states to recognize and enforce the judgments of other states. The Florida Supreme Court made a big decision in the case of Ledoux-Nottingham, allowing grandparents to visit their grandchildren even if the parents don’t want them to. This is the first time this has happened in Florida. Many grandparents are denied the right to see their grandkids, and this decision could change that. This passage cites and discusses different court cases and legal principles related to family law. It also mentions a TV show and statistics about the elderly population. The author, Ronald H. Kauffman, is a certified family lawyer in Miami. He is part of the Family Law Section and has submitted this article on their behalf. The article is from the Florida Bar, which aims to teach its members about duty and service, improve justice administration, and advance legal knowledge.

Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/unbowed-unbent-unbroken-an-update-on-grandparent-visitation/