A new law in Florida relating to members of the military states that if a parent is activated, deployed, or temporarily assigned to military service on orders in excess of 90 days, the parent may designate a family member, a stepparent, or a relative of the child by marriage to engage in time-sharing on the parent’s behalf.
So if the parent in the military designates a grandparent to time-share in his or her stead, the court would enforce such a designation. The Florida Supreme Court has consistently held all statutes that have attempted to compel visitation or custody with a grandparent based solely on the best interest of the child standard to be unconstitutional.
Under current Florida law, a grandparent may file a petition and obtain visitation rights as to a grandchild when it is in the best interest of the child and one of three conditions have been met:
- The parents’ marriage has been dissolved
- A parent has deserted the child or
- The child was born out of wedlock and the parents never marry
A court is allowed to consider a number of factors when it determines what is in the best interest of the child. None of these factors are decisive or irrefutable in and of themselves. A court will not likely make a decision regarding grandparent visitation based only on the presence or absence of one factor. The court will look at the presence or absence of all of the following factors before making a ruling:
- The willingness of the grandparents to encourage a close relationship between the child and parents
- The length and quality of the relationship between the grandparents and child before the divorce
- If the child is old enough to express a preference, that preference will be considered
- The mental and physical health of the child
- The mental and physical health of the grandparents
- Any other factors the judge wants to consider
What happens when one of the child’s natural parents remarries and the stepparent adopts the child? Florida will not automatically terminate any grandparent visitation rights just because a natural parent remarries and the child is subsequently adopted by the stepparent. However, a Florida court can still terminate the grandparents’ visitation rights if it believes that continued visitation with the grandparents is not in the child’s best interests. Before a court decides this, though, it must hold a hearing and allow the grandparents an opportunity to be heard.
A new law in Florida relating to members of the military states that if a parent is activated, deployed, or temporarily assigned to military service on orders in excess of 90 days, the parent may designate a family member, a stepparent, or a relative of the child by marriage to engage in time-sharing on the parent’s behalf.
So if the parent in the military designates a grandparent to time-share in his or her stead, the court would enforce such a designation. The Florida Supreme Court has consistently held all statutes that have attempted to compel visitation or custody with a grandparent based solely on the best interest of the child standard to be unconstitutional.
Under current Florida law, a grandparent may file a petition and obtain visitation rights as to a grandchild when it is in the best interest of the child and one of three conditions have been met:
§ The parents’ marriage has been dissolved;
§ A parent has deserted the child; or
§ The child was born out of wedlock and the parents never marry.
A court is allowed to consider a number of factors when it determines what is in the best interest of the child. None of these factors are decisive or irrefutable in and of themselves. A court will not likely make a decision regarding grandparent visitation based only on the presence or absence of one factor. The court will look at the presence or absence of all of the following factors before making a ruling:
§ The willingness of the grandparents to encourage a close relationship between the child and parents
§ The length and quality of the relationship between the grandparents and child before the divorce
§ If the child is old enough to express a preference, that preference will be considered
§ The mental and physical health of the child
§ The mental and physical health of the grandparents
§ Any other factors the judge wants to consider
What happens when one of the child’s natural parents remarries and the stepparent adopts the child? Florida will not automatically terminate any grandparent visitation rights just because a natural parent remarries and the child is subsequently adopted by the stepparent. However, a Florida court can still terminate the grandparents’ visitation rights if it believes that continued visitation with the grandparents is not in the child’s best interests. Before a court decides this, though, it must hold a hearing and allow the grandparents an opportunity to be heard.
Last Updated on April 18, 2017 by The Orlando Law Group
