Divorce not only affects the spouses and children of the marriage, it also effects the extended family, such as grandparents. While some states have given grandparents some ability to ask the court for visitation rights, Florida traditionally does not allow for grandparents visitation rights when one or both parents do not want a grandparent to see their child(ren).
However, Florida Statute 752.11 provides a few limited situations when a grandparent may be able to petition the court for visitation rights, specifically, when:
A grandparent of a minor child whose parents are deceased, missing, or in a persistent vegetative state, orwhose one parent is deceased, missing, or in a persistent vegetative state and whose other parent has been convicted of a felony or an offense of violence evincing behavior that poses a substantial threat of harm to the minor child’s health or welfare
There are some other situations that may cause a court to give grandparents visitation rights; if a parent is deployed, if there is a 751 relative temporary or concurrent custody case or in dependency actions.
If you feel that your situation falls into one of these limited categories you should seek legal advice from an attorney to explore your legal options.
For more information regarding grandparents visitation rights, you can contact the law office of Schwam-Wilcox & Associates.
