Can Grandparents or Relatives Get Time-Sharing or Custody in Florida?

Few areas of Florida family law disappoint families as consistently as grandparents’ rights. Grandparents who have helped raise a child, supported the family financially, and maintained close relationships are often shocked to learn that Florida law gives them virtually no path to court-ordered visitation when one or both parents object — and even less of a path to custody.

That result is not an oversight. It is the consequence of three decades of Florida Supreme Court decisions interpreting the Florida Constitution’s privacy clause to substantially limit the state’s authority to interfere with parental decisions, including parental decisions about who their child sees. Each successive grandparents-rights statute the legislature has enacted has been narrowed or held unconstitutional. The 2015 statute that survives — § 752.011 — is intentionally narrow, and the 2022 “Markel Act” amendments expanded it only modestly.

Why Florida Grandparents’ Rights Are So Limited

The constitutional foundation matters. Article I, Section 23 of the Florida Constitution — the state’s privacy clause — provides that “every natural person has the right to be let alone and free from governmental intrusion into the person’s private life except as otherwise provided herein.” Florida courts have repeatedly held that this clause provides broader privacy protection than the federal Constitution.

In a series of cases beginning in the 1990s, the Florida Supreme Court held grandparent visitation statutes facially unconstitutional under the Florida privacy clause:

• Beagle v. Beagle, 678 So. 2d 1271 (Fla. 1996), struck down a provision allowing court-ordered grandparent visitation over both parents’ objections in an intact family.
• Von Eiff v. Azicri, 720 So. 2d 510 (Fla. 1998), struck down a provision allowing visitation when one parent had died.
• Belair v. Drew, 770 So. 2d 1164 (Fla. 2000), addressed visitation in dissolution cases.
• Saul v. Brunetti, 753 So. 2d 26 (Fla. 2000), struck down a provision applying to children born out of wedlock.

The Florida Supreme Court’s reasoning across these cases was consistent: a fit parent’s decisions about their child’s relationships are protected by the privacy clause, and the state cannot override those decisions absent a showing of harm to the child amounting to detriment.

By the early 2000s, virtually every provision of the original Chapter 752 had been held unconstitutional. The legislature responded in 2015 by enacting Florida Statute § 752.011, drafted to fit within the narrow constitutional space the Florida Supreme Court had left.

The Current Statute: § 752.011

Under § 752.011, a grandparent can petition for court-ordered visitation only when the child’s parents fall into one of two narrow categories:

Category 1: Both Parents Unavailable

Both parents are deceased, missing, or in a persistent vegetative state.

Category 2: One Parent Unavailable, Other Parent Convicted of Specified Conduct

One parent is deceased, missing, or in a persistent vegetative state, and the 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.

If neither category applies — if both parents are alive, present, and not subject to qualifying convictions — Florida grandparents have no statutory right to petition for court-ordered visitation, regardless of the closeness of the prior relationship, the parents’ reasons for cutting contact, or the impact on the child. The parents have absolute decision-making authority on this question, subject only to the dependency and termination-of-parental-rights provisions of Chapter 39.

That result strikes most grandparents as unreasonable. It exists because the Florida Supreme Court has held that the alternative — state intervention in parental relationship decisions — is unconstitutional in Florida.

The 2022 Markel Act Expansion

In 2022, Governor DeSantis signed HB 1119, known as the “Markel Act,” which added a third category to § 752.011.

Category 3: Markel Act — Wrongful Death of a Parent

When one parent has been held criminally liable for the death of the other parent, or civilly liable for an intentional tort causing the death of the other parent, there is a presumption in favor of granting reasonable visitation to the petitioning grandparent or step-grandparent if he or she is the parent of the child’s deceased parent. The presumption can be overcome only if the court finds that granting visitation is not in the best interests of the child.

The Markel Act was named for FSU law professor Dan Markel, who was murdered in 2014 in connection with a custody dispute involving his ex-wife’s family. Markel’s parents championed the legislation, which addresses the specific circumstance in which one parent has caused the other parent’s death — leaving the surviving parent in control of the child but with the deceased parent’s family wholly cut off.

The Markel Act applies only in this narrow circumstance. It does not provide a general expansion of grandparent rights. For families outside the wrongful-death scenario, the rest of § 752.011 still controls — and that means most grandparents seeking visitation have no statutory path.

What the Petition Process Looks Like

When § 752.011 does apply, the procedural path is structured:

Filing

The grandparent files a petition for court-ordered visitation using Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.975(a). The petition must be filed in the county where the minor child primarily resides.

Preliminary Hearing — Prima Facie Showing

Before the case proceeds, the court holds a preliminary hearing to determine whether the grandparent has made a prima facie showing of (1) parental unfitness or (2) significant harm to the child. Without that showing, the court must dismiss the petition and may award attorney’s fees and costs to the parents. This is a real screen — petitions that cannot survive preliminary review are routinely dismissed early.

Mandatory Mediation

If the petition survives preliminary review, the court must refer the case to family mediation under § 752.015. Florida public policy is that families should resolve grandparent visitation disputes within the family — and mediation gives that resolution a structured forum.

Final Hearing on Best Interest

If mediation does not resolve the matter, the court proceeds to a final evidentiary hearing on the best interests of the child. Section 752.011(5) specifies a long list of factors the court must consider, including:

• The child’s reasonable preference if of sufficient maturity.
• The length and quality of the previous relationship between the grandparent and the child.
• The grandparent’s involvement in providing regular care and support.
• The reasons the parent ended contact.
• Whether there has been demonstrable mental or emotional harm to the child from the disruption.
• The grandparent’s mental, physical, and emotional health.
• The recommendations of any guardian ad litem.
• The results of any psychological evaluation.
• Any written testamentary statement by the deceased parent regarding visitation.
• Material harm to the parent-child relationship if visitation is granted.

The court must then balance the child’s best interest against the surviving parent’s constitutional interest in directing the child’s upbringing — a balancing exercise that is genuinely difficult and where outcomes are highly fact-dependent.

Limitation on Refiling

A grandparent who is denied visitation generally cannot refile within two years of the dismissal, except in cases of demonstrable emotional harm to the child.

When § 752.011 Does Not Apply: Other Paths That Sometimes Work

For grandparents and relatives outside the narrow scenarios § 752.011 covers, Florida law provides several alternative paths — though each has its own constraints.

Custody by Extended Family Member: § 751

Florida Statute Chapter 751 — the Temporary Custody by Extended Family statute — allows a relative within the third degree by blood or marriage to petition for temporary custody of a child who is residing with them. This is custody, not visitation, and it requires that:

• The child is currently living with the petitioning relative,
• The parents either consent or have abandoned, neglected, or abused the child, and
• The court finds the placement serves the child’s best interests.

Chapter 751 is the right tool for grandparents or other relatives who have been actually raising a child and need legal authority to make decisions, enroll in school, consent to medical care, and so on. It is not a tool for grandparents who simply want visitation.

Dependency Court: Chapter 39

Where there are genuine concerns about parental fitness — abuse, neglect, abandonment, substance abuse — Chapter 39 provides the framework for dependency proceedings. Reports to the Department of Children and Families can lead to investigation, removal of the child, and (where appropriate) placement with relatives. Section 39.509 specifically addresses grandparent visitation in dependency cases and provides broader access than § 752.011 — but it requires that there actually be a dependency proceeding, which means the parents have been judicially determined to be unfit at some level.

Open Adoption Agreements

Where a child is being adopted by a relative, the parties can — by agreement — include post-adoption contact provisions for biological grandparents. These agreements are governed by § 63.0427 and require court approval, but they provide a structural path to ongoing contact in the adoption context.

Negotiated Visitation Through the Parents’ Case

In an active dissolution or paternity case, the parents themselves can include grandparent contact in the parenting plan if both agree. The court has limited authority to impose grandparent visitation over a parent’s objection, but parents who genuinely value the grandparent relationship can build it into the plan voluntarily — and once incorporated into the order, it becomes enforceable like any other provision.

What This Means in Practice for Florida Grandparents

The law leaves most grandparents in a difficult position. A few realities worth understanding:

Strong Relationships Don’t Create Legal Rights

A grandparent who has helped raise a grandchild, paid for school, attended every event, and maintained a daily presence has no greater statutory right to visitation than a grandparent who has been peripheral. The statute focuses on the parents’ status, not the grandparent-grandchild relationship’s strength. Many grandparents find this counterintuitive and unfair. The constitutional framework requires it.

Cooperation Is Almost Always the Better Path

When the parent’s objection to grandparent contact is rooted in conflict between the grandparent and the parent — disagreements about discipline, lifestyle, religion, finances — the realistic remedy is to repair the adult relationship. Court-ordered visitation in Florida is generally not available for these disputes, and even where § 752.011 technically applies, the cost and emotional toll of contested grandparent visitation litigation is high.

Document Your Relationship

If a § 752.011 case ever does become possible, the grandparent who has documented the prior relationship — photographs, communications, school and medical contact, financial support, regular caregiving — has a much stronger best-interest case than one who relies solely on memory and testimony.

Be Ready to Move Quickly in Limited Windows

When § 752.011 does apply — particularly under the Markel Act — the legal path opens but does not stay open indefinitely. Grandparents in qualifying circumstances should consult counsel promptly rather than waiting.

Distinguish Custody From Visitation

A grandparent actually raising a child has access to Chapter 751 that a grandparent merely seeking visitation does not. The legal posture is different, the procedure is different, and the outcomes are different. Custody cases under Chapter 751 are typically more accessible than § 752.011 visitation cases — if the underlying facts support custody.

What This Means for Parents

Parents should understand the corresponding flexibility:

You Can Voluntarily Include Grandparent Time in a Parenting Plan

The court will not impose it over your objection in most circumstances. But you can build it in, and once built in, it becomes enforceable. Parents who want to honor the grandparent relationship without committing to it informally have this structural tool.

Cutting Off a Long-Standing Relationship Has Practical Consequences Beyond the Legal Ones

The legal question is often “can the grandparent get visitation?” — the answer is almost always no. The practical questions — what does this do to the child, the family, the next generation — are often more important and longer-lasting. The legal answer does not resolve those.

Allegations of Grandparent Misconduct Belong in DCF Reports, Not Vague Refusals

If a grandparent’s contact with the child poses an actual safety concern — abuse, neglect, exposure to substance use — that is a Chapter 39 issue. A DCF report initiates the appropriate investigation. Vague allegations of grandparent unfitness used as litigation positioning rarely produce useful outcomes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can grandparents get custody in Florida?

In limited circumstances, yes. Chapter 751 allows extended family members — including grandparents — to petition for temporary custody when the child is already living with them and either the parents consent or the parents have abandoned, neglected, or abused the child. Dependency proceedings under Chapter 39 can also result in placement with relatives. Custody for grandparents who are not currently caring for the child and where parents are functional is generally not available.

What is the new law in Florida for grandparents?

The most recent change is the 2022 Markel Act (HB 1119), which added § 752.011(2) and created a presumption in favor of grandparent visitation when one parent has been held criminally or civilly liable for the death of the other parent. This is a narrow expansion. The general framework of § 752.011 — limited to cases of deceased, missing, or vegetative parents — still controls most cases.

Can my parents get visitation if I don’t want them to see my child?

Generally no, unless you fall into one of the narrow categories of § 752.011. Florida courts have repeatedly held that a fit parent has the constitutional right to direct the child’s upbringing, including the child’s relationships with extended family. The Florida Constitution’s privacy clause is the basis.

What about during a divorce?

The original Chapter 752 included provisions for grandparent visitation in divorce cases. Those provisions were struck down by the Florida Supreme Court as unconstitutional. The current § 752.011 does not provide a path for grandparents based on the parents’ divorce alone. Parents in a divorce can voluntarily include grandparent time in their parenting plan, and the court will enforce it once incorporated, but the court cannot impose it over a parent’s objection.

What if the parent who is the child of the grandparent died?

If both parents are deceased, missing, or in a persistent vegetative state, § 752.011(1) applies. If only one parent is in that situation and the surviving parent has not been convicted of qualifying conduct, § 752.011 generally does not apply — except in the narrow Markel Act circumstance where the surviving parent caused the deceased parent’s death.

How much does a grandparent visitation case cost?

Cost varies significantly. The preliminary hearing screen prevents many cases from advancing. Cases that survive the screen and proceed through mediation and final hearing typically run $15,000 to $50,000 per side, sometimes more. Section 752.011(1) authorizes attorney’s-fee awards against grandparents whose petitions are dismissed at preliminary review.

Can stepgrandparents petition for visitation?

Under the Markel Act expansion, yes — step-grandparents are explicitly included in § 752.011(2). Outside the Markel Act circumstance, “grandparent” is defined in § 752.001 to include great-grandparents. The statute does not generally extend to other categories of extended family.

What’s the difference between § 752.011 and Chapter 751?

Section 752.011 governs court-ordered visitation by a grandparent — limited to narrow circumstances and producing a contact schedule. Chapter 751 governs temporary custody by an extended family member — broader applicability when the child is actually living with the relative, and producing custody (with decision-making authority) rather than visitation.

Talk to Nest Law About Your Case

Florida grandparent and relative cases sit in a narrow legal space defined by constitutional limits and statutory specificity. The cases that succeed are the ones where the facts genuinely fit the statute, the petition is built carefully, and the proper procedural path — § 752.011, Chapter 751, dependency, or negotiated parenting plan provisions — is identified at the outset.

At Nest Law, our Miami family law attorneys handle grandparent and relative matters across Miami-Dade and Broward County, including § 752.011 visitation petitions, Markel Act cases, Chapter 751 temporary custody petitions, and parenting plan negotiations that incorporate grandparent contact.

Schedule a confidential case evaluation to discuss your case.

This blog post is for informational purposes only and should not be considered legal advice. Florida family law is highly fact-specific and the application of § 752.011, Chapter 751, the Markel Act, and the underlying constitutional decisions varies by circuit, judge, and the specific facts of each case. For guidance on your situation, consult a qualified Florida family law attorney.