Are nonparent visitation agreements valid in Florida?

According to Florida case law, no, written agreements granting visitation rights to nonparents are unenforceable under Florida law:

In Wakeman v. Dixon, 921 So. 2d 669 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006), this Court held that a same sex partner who was not the biological mother—but had been a de facto parent who supported and participated in a child's upbringing pursuant to a written coparenting agreement—had no legally enforceable visitation rights with the child. Id. at 671. The reason is found in the state constitution's privacy clause, which creates “the right to be let alone and free from governmental intrusion into [a] person's private life.” Art. I, § 23, Fla. Const. This provision has been recognized as protecting the constitutional right of parents to raise their child without state interference absent the most compelling of circumstances (such as child abuse). Wakeman, 921 So. 2d at 671—72. Nonparents are not within the ambit of this constitutional right; written agreements granting visitation to nonparents are unenforceable in Florida. Id.; see also Springer v. Springer, 277 So. 3d 727, 728 (Fla. 2d DCA 2019) (“[A] coparenting agreement between a biological parent and a nonparent is not enforceable under Florida Law.”); Russell v. Pasik, 178 So. 3d 55, 59 (Fla. 2d DCA 2015) (“[T]he law is clear: those who claim parentage on some basis other than biology or legal status do not have the same rights, including the right to visitation, as the biological or legal parents.”); see also De Los Milagros Castellat v. Pereira, 225 So. 3d 368, 372 (Fla. 3d DCA 2017) (Logue, J., concurring) (noting that “the Florida Supreme Court expressly approved Wakeman’s holding that the lesbian partner who was the birth mother had parental rights protected by the constitution that prevailed over the claims of a partner who was neither the biological nor legal mother, even though the couple clearly intended to raise the children together”).

See: Stabler v. Spicer, Fla: Dist. Court of Appeals, 1st Dist. 2022

Related (From our main website):

• Child Custody in Florida
• Advocating for Your Child’s Best Interest
• How to File for Child Relocation in Florida and Win Your Case

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