Grandparents' rights in Florida
"My grandchildren live in Florida and I'd like to know what visitation rights I have with them?"
The answer is simple and saddening: none.
But, you say, you've seen the Florida law on the books that says that grandparents have rights in Florida.
You're correct, there is such a law on the books, but, unfortunately, the Florida supreme court has said that the law is null and void, or, as we lawyers would say, unenforceable. The reasoning is: giving grandparents rights would interfere with the rights of the parents. Only the parents should decide whether the grandparents have any rights. Or, at least that's how the argument goes. The United States Supreme Court has generally agreed, at least for now.
I'm told that the law is different in other states, but, in Florida, at least for now, grandparents' rights are at the mercy of the parents, such as that mercy may be.
posted by Brent @ 2:51 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
I think that the agency picks and chooses what they want to make things convenient for them.
No parents' rights here in Rhode Island either. No rights for special-needs parents.
I know of one who had signed documents she did not understand and in the end, after so many meetings and visitations of 30 minutes a week with her baby, she realized she had signed adoption papers.
She was devastated, just like any normal mother.
She has never been with her baby for more thas 2 hours a week. She was never made to leave the hospital after a C-section delivery with her baby. No sufficient supervised visits, at least.
A happy and hardworking half child-half woman, she had to struggle in the dead of winter to visit her baby at the agency. Sometimes the foster mother shows up with the baby, sometimes she doesnt.
All they did was make things tougher and tougher for her (let's call her Angelica), punished her for missing a family meeting (she never missed any visitation , court hearing or meetings) because she couldnt get a day off from a job she just got. so they told her as she took her usual visitation day off from work: Sorry, visitation is cancelled because you missed your meeting.
They have called a previous job and told them about her case and they let her go.
They are making it tougher and tougher. Angelica is going through health and emotional problems. Where is her social worker?
Nobody cares. For an agency to proclaim: Looking out for the welfare of the whole family, THIS IS A JOKE.
How come nobody can seem to make a difference. Do the aggressive and the deceitful now rule the world? Is that the thing to be, in order to survive this world.........?
I am a grandfather in Florida with a very serious problem. My son is a drug addict and in Feb. 2007 he overdosed and almost died. He had custody of his daughter (7 yrs old) and the department of children and family services placed her in my home. Since that time my son and his girlfriend have befriended the case worker (a lady about their age) and the case worker went before the judge with them and had my little grand daughter removed from my home and given to the girlfriend. This is a 30 year old woman who has never been married but has two children by two different men. I have tried to talk to the case workers' supervisors but their arrogance indicates that they will stick together no matter what. We are respectable people, my wife is an RN of 27 yrs and I am licensed by the department of banking as a lender which requires a stringent background check. The real estate bust in Florida has broke us. We can't afford the attorney who could help us. Any advise will be appreciated. Surely someone else has had a problem with this Florida department.
My email darrell@floridamortgagetrust.net
I only have some very harsh words for you here, and I really wish I didn't, because I'm sure you are caring grandparents who only want the best for your granddaughter.
First I'm bothered by the word, "went." You say the caseworker "went before the judge..." Past tense. Ouch. You may or may not have received notice about the hearing date before the judge. If you were noticed of the date and didn't hire a lawyer, shame on you. If you weren't noticed of the date and didn't hire a lawyer, shame on you.
There's very little even a lawyer can do to help after a judge has already made a decision. There are a million things we can do before a judge makes a decision.
When you accepted your granddaughter, you knew legal problems were coming. That was the time to call a lawyer. That was the time to try to make custody permanent. The was the time to start fighting--along with a lawyer--for the best interests of your granddaughter.
I know you say you couldn't afford a lawyer. The real truth is, you couldn't afford not to have a lawyer. Let's face it: kids are expense. You have to buy food, you have to buy cloths, and, way too often, you have to buy a lawyer.
In these litigious days, lawyers are just a part of raising kids. Here's an awful truth that I'm sure I'll regret saying: if you can't afford a lawyer, you can't afford kids.
I feel terrible for what's happened to you. I feel worse for what's happening to your granddaughter. I wish I had better news for you. I'm sure you'll get many emails with horror stories about how they've been treated by Florida's various child service agencies. I hear these stories every day. Some of the case workers in these agencies will have much to answer for on judgment day. Sounds like the case worker you've dealt with will be among them.
Until then, I'll pray for you and your granddaughter. For now, it's the best I can do.
Indiana has an interesting law: Grandparents can approach the court for visitation of the grandchildren in the event of divorce or the death of their child/parent. AND grandparents are encouraged to file a motion for visitation as soon as the petition for divorce is filed. Same thing for the death of their child/parent; to file for visitation as soon after the death as possible. It is not a guarantee that visitation would be allowed, but is a first step to protect the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren. However, without either of these two events taking place, the grandparents are at the mercy of the parents, who are, afterall, the caretakers of their own children, unless the grandparents can prove that the children are in harm's way at the hand of the parent(s).
This would be good compromise for Florida in order to protect the children and continue the family unit, which certainly should include grandparents, except maybe in those cases where the grandparents haven't learned yet that they are NOT the parents, are a horrible influence on the children and are not basically good examples from which to learn life's simple courtesies. The upside, though, is that one's station in life and education are not prerequisites for great grandparenting and Florida should be able to come up with some sort of program/class to include teaching inclusion of the grandparents and allow grandparents to participate in classes, if desired, to help them learn how they can be a help and not a hindrance after divorce or death.
Hubby and I are grandparents of a 6 yr old girl. BabyMom and BabyDad were never married. BabyDad is husbands estranged son who lives in NY. We, along with Baby and BabyMom live in FLA.
Until 6 months ago we had Baby on a regular basis,took her to school, had her stay with us many, many times, did everyday and special day things with her. Brought her to and from NY to visit her father.Taught her things like reading, numbers and swimming. She has her own room, clothes and toys in our home.
BabyMom is not ideal, but was able to make it with our assistance.
To be blunt, I found BabyMom in bed with a man when she had told us she was at work. I really don't care except that she lied to us and to Baby of her whereabouts. This was 6 months ago. BabyMom moved 30 miles away with Baby and doesn't allow us phone calls or visits with Baby. We filed "Grandparent Visitation" papers with the clerk of the court, paid $260. Baby Mom was served and responded that she contested because we are "wacky". I have collected over 20 letters from friends, neighbors, Baby's old school all saying it is unfair and cruel for us not to be in Babys life. We didn't get to add the letters to the file as our file was pulled last week by the J.A. for the judge.
Today I looked up our case and it has been "DISMISSED/DISOLVED". I'm taking that as the judge won't even hear our case, he is going on the presumption that grandparents have no visitation rights in FLA.
Now one question is why did the clerk take our money if there is no such thing as filing for grandparents rights? And can/should we get a lawyer and appeal? IF we could get heard I do believe we would get visitation. We are not interested in revealing to the court about BabyMom's & BabyDad's bad morals and habits. We just want what we had with our granddaughter before BabyMom knew that we knew exactly what we had thought all along.
I also am a bit worried as Baby Mom's Mother is primary babysitter now and she has been arrested and convicted of endangering a minor. (Serving alcohol to her then 16 year old son).
Any ideas and thoughts are welcome.
ShiraBWild@aol.com
The clerk will take your money and your paperwork whether your lawsuit is valid or not. The clerk is not able or allowed to determine whether a lawsuit is valid.
The judge, on the other hand, has properly dismissed your lawsuit. Despite the statute, there are no grandparents’ rights in Florida. The grandparents’ rights statute was found invalid by the Florida supreme court. There is nothing the judge can do to help you, no matter how hard you argue.
However, since you suspect child abuse, you might want to speak to a lawyer about filing a "751 action" (temporary custody of a minor relative) or a "39 action" (intervening against child abuse or neglect). These are two lawsuits that can have the effect of getting grandparents custody in rare circumstances.
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