It’s been about 16 years since the U.S. Supreme Court decided its big grandparent visitation rights case. On this anniversary, there’s something new to celebrate in Florida.
I’ve written about grandparent rights to visitation several times. The U.S. Supreme Court, in Troxel v. Granville, held that the Due Process Clause protects the fundamental right of parents to make decisions concerning the care, custody, and control of their children.
So, as long as a parent is adequately caring for his or her child, there will normally be no reason for the state to inject itself into the private realm of the family. The basic presumption in Troxel is that fit parents act in the best interests of their children.
However, the Troxel court did not hold that the Due Process Clause requires a showing of harm or potential harm to the child as a condition to granting visitation. That is a Florida law.
Instead, the U.S. Supreme Court left those decisions for the states to decide on a case-by-case basis.
It surprises many Floridians – because of the large percentage of grandparents here – but grandparent don’t have visitation rights here.
Grandparent custody and time-sharing rights do not exist in Florida without showing harm to the child; otherwise, it is deemed to violate parents’ privacy.
I spoke about a case the Florida Supreme Court was considering at my presentation at the Florida Bar/AAML’s certification review course.
In the recent case, a Mother argued a Colorado order granting the paternal grandmother visitation rights was unconstitutional because granting grandparent visitation violates Florida Public Policy.
Last week the Florida Supreme Court enforced the limited grandparent visitation rights granted in the Colorado order. Why? Because Florida courts have to enforce any custody or visitation determination by a court of another State. The concept is called Full Faith and Credit.
Last week, the Florida Supreme Court held that Full Faith and Credit applies to grandparent visitation orders from another state. So, when a grandparent claims a right to visitation of a child, based on an order from another state, the order must be enforced.
To the extent that the federal, Full Faith and Credit concept conflicts with Florida public policy, federal law controls because of the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution.
The Florida Supreme Court opinion is here.