Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody

Grandparent visitation in Florida is limited because Florida law recognizes the right of parents to raise their children without interference. However, if a grandparent is granted visitation rights in a state that permits such rights, Florida case law has consistently held that it will enforce out-of-state grandparent visitation orders under the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the United States Constitution. This was an issue in the case Mattingly v. Hatfield, 1D2022-0039 (Fla. 1st DCA July 3, 2024) which was reconsidered on rehearing.

In this case, the parents and the grandmother originally lived in Kentucky. The grandmother spent time with the child weekly, and when the grandmother’s relationship with the mother of the child deteriorated, the grandmother petitioned for a visitation order from a Kentucky court. This request was granted. Eventually, the parents of the child moved to Florida, and entered an agreed modified visitation schedule with the grandmother based on the move. However, the grandmother continued to litigate the visitation issue in Kentucky, at one point resulting in the incarceration of the parents.

Eventually, the order was registered in Florida, and a petition for divorce was filed between the parents. In their divorce case, the parents entered a parenting plan which excluded the grandmother’s visitation. The parents filed a petition to modify the Kentucky order based on a change in circumstances which included their divorce. The grandmother moved to dismiss, arguing there was no substantial or unanticipated change in circumstances warranting modification. The trial court granted the grandmother’s motion, holding that because the mother previously mentioned that the parents might divorce because of the strain caused by the grandmother’s litigation, the parents could not show a substantial, unanticipated change in circumstances. The parents appealed. This ruling was affirmed previously by the appellate court but was reconsidered after the parents filed a petition for rehearing with the appellate court.

The appellate court reached the same conclusion, upholding the dismissal of the parents’ petition for modification. The court held “In Richardson our supreme court struck down a statute that permitted a court to ‘recognize the grandparents as having the same standing as parents for evaluating what custody arrangements are in the best interest of the child,’ finding it a violation of parents’ state constitutional right to rear their children. 766 So. 2d at 1038. But in spite of this recognized right, it is not for us to question the wisdom of either the Kentucky grandparent visitation law or the Kentucky court orders granting it to the Grandmother. This is a consequence of the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the United States Constitution. Specifically, the supreme court has recognized that the out-of-state orders awarding grandparents child visitation are entitled to enforcement under the Full Faith and Credit Clause.”

The court concluded “Even if we considered the 2018 Kentucky order the original judgment, we conclude that competent, substantial evidence supports the trial court’s finding that ‘[t]he divorce of the parents was not unanticipated and is not material or substantial in nature[,]’ and that ‘there [was] no reason why the parents’ divorce should impact the grandmother’s court-ordered visitation.’ And because modification was not warranted in this case, we may end the inquiry there. [internal citation omitted]. Even if we agreed that the divorce was a substantial and material change since the 2018 order, we are still obligated to affirm because the parents failed to present any evidence that the modification was in the best interest of [the child].”

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