Grandparents have the right to be judicially granted visitation with their grandchildren, but only under limited circumstances.
When children have been removed from their parents’ home due to abuse, neglect or abandonment, the court may provide grandparents visitation under Chapter 39.
Also, a grandparent of a minor child whose parents are deceased, missing, or in a persistent vegetative state, or when one parent is deceased, missing, or in a persistent vegetative state and the other parent has been convicted of a felony or an offense of violence, may petition the court for court-ordered visitation with their grandchild under Chapter 752.
In 1998 (Von Eiff vs. Azicri, 720 So.2d 510 (Fla, 1998)) the statute (Chapter 752) purporting to grant grandparents to right to judicially impose visitation rights, over the potential objections of the children’s parents, was determined to be unconstitutional (In 1996, part of the statute was declared unconstitutional in Beagle vs. Beagle, 678 so. 2d 1271 – Von Eiff finished the process by declaring the entire statute unconstitutional).
Thereafter the statute remained on the books, but effectively there was no enforceable statute granting grandparents visitation rights that were judicially imposed, until 2015, when a new statute was enacted as noted above.
So, if DCF is involved because children have been removed from their parents, grandparents can be granted visitation with their grandchildren over any objection of the parents. And grandparents may also request that the court grant them visitation of their minor grandchildren if a parent has died or been incarcerated or is in a persistent vegetative state or is otherwise unavailable.
In a situation where a minor grandchild has both parents present, and those parents do not desire that the child’s grandparents have visitation, there is no opportunity for a court to impose grandparental visitation.
If you have questions about your situation, contact Men’s Rights Law Firm today for a phone consultation at 239-829-0166.