Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody
What is a psychological parent in the context of a Florida family law case? This is a person who acts as a parent to a child (the child may even refer to this person as a parent) but the person is not actually a legal parent of the child. This is common in the case of stepparents or other relatives who may step into the role of a parent for a child. Florida generally does not recognize any rights for psychological parents. So if a legal parent objects to the psychological parent being involved in a child’s life, it is very likely that the psychological parent will not be granted any rights to the child. This was an issue in the case Quiceno v. Bedier, 3D23-203 (Fla. 3d DCA August 23, 2023).
In this divorce case, three children were involved. One of the children was conceived prior to the parties’ marriage and another man was listed as the father on the birth certificate. The parties to this case subsequently were married, and during their marriage, the listed father was removed from the birth certificate after his paternity was disestablished. It was undisputed that the husband in this case was not the biological father of the child, and that he did not adopt the child. As part of the divorce, the parties were awarded equal time-sharing and shared responsibility regarding all three children. The court reasoned that as to the non-biological child, “(1) paternity was disestablished during the marriage; (2) [the child] identified [the husband] as his father; and (3) [the husband] provided financial support for [the child]. The wife appealed as to the child who was not biologically related to the husband.
The appellate court began by noting the Florida Supreme Court’s position regarding a biological parent’s right to raise their child free from interference absent a threat of harm to the child. The court noted “In the aftermath of these decisions, Florida appellate courts have concluded the best interest of the child is insufficient to justify granting timesharing rights to any third party, even a stepparent or psychological parent.” The court concluded “Against this landscape, we examine the case at hand. Neither the common law presumption of legitimacy nor the statutory framework governing paternity has any application to the facts adduced below. Hence, the disestablishment of paternity during marriage did not concomitantly establish [the husband’s] paternity. The remaining factors relied upon by the trial court, the provision of support and psychological paternity, naturally are probative of the best interest of the child. As explained previously, however, in the absence of a showing of ‘demonstrable harm,’ the trial court lacked the discretion to award shared parental responsibility and equal timesharing to a third party.”
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