(17) As grandparents, one of the biggest joys in life is getting to be around their grandchildren. Some grandparents get to see quite a bit of their grandkids, but sometimes issues between the mother and father can cause concern. What exactly are the rights of grandparents when it comes to seeing or being with their grandchildren after a divorce? What if one of the parents doesn’t get visiting rights, will the grandparents on that side of the family be allowed to see the children? Although it may vary from state to state, here you will find a basic answer to these inquiries.
Grandparents DO have rights, but only in special circumstances. Generally, during a typical divorce, custody of the child/children is split amongst the parents. So long as there is one parent of sound mind and body, who can care for the child, will care for the child. This means the grandparents hold no legal reason to have visitation with the child/children in question. The special circumstances mentioned before are as follows; If both parents are deceased, missing, or in a medically vegetative state, then the grandparents will gain full custody of the child/children in question if the home is fit. Another circumstance is similar but where only one of the parents is deceased, missing, or in a medically vegetative state and the other parent is incarcerated or produces some threat of harm to the child/children in question. It that case, the grandparents would again have the rights if deemed fit.
Unfortunately, as far as the state of Florida goes, that is the extent of the rights of grandparents and grandchildren. This, however, is not that case for every state, such as in Connecticut and Delaware, where a grandparent can be deemed rights to see their grandchild/children if it’s deemed in the child’s best interest.
Basically, during a typical divorce in Florida, it is up to the parents of the child to make sure their grandparents are involved in their lives or not. Rights for the grandparents are sparse, but it is possible to make sure both grandparents and their grandchildren are in each other’s lives.
