My husband and I are writing to request an amendment to the Florida Constitution regarding grandparents rights of visitation in our state.  Florida presently has a most severe and restrictive law that infringes upon the rights of grandparents to petition the court for visiwhich we feel should be changed.  This issue impacts Florida’s children and grandparents at a higher rate than other states since Florida is one of the top 10 states for divorce based upon 2017 statistics.

 There are experts that view this as not only a severe form of child abuse, but also consider this alienation a form of elder abuse when both grandchildren and grandparents are deprived of this special close and loving relationship.  

There are at least 35 states in this great country that have addressed this heartbreaking issue and recognize the value of grandparents being active in the lives of their grandchildren.  This is a tragic, but by no means isolated issue.  States such as New York and Kansas are examples of such states that have recognized this need and now have laws that rectify this insufficiency.

Therefore, we respectfully request that an amendment to the Florida Constitution be put before the people to allow grandparents visitation rights and recognized standing if it is in the best interest of the children and one parent is deceased.