Every child should have the right to know and bond with their biological family, and every parent should have the right, even in death, to have their clearly expressed wishes regarding family, love, and continuity honored.

After the sudden and tragic death of our 20-year-old son in a motor vehicle crash, our two-year-old grandson lost his father—far too young to remember him. What followed compounded that loss: he was also cut off from his grandparents, his aunt, his uncles, great grandparents, and his entire paternal extended family.

This is not merely a loss of contact. It is a loss of identity. Without a change in Florida law, our grandson may never know who his father was or have the opportunity to bond with the family that represents half of his biological, cultural, and medical identity.

We live just five minutes from our grandson and had an established, meaningful relationship with him. Our son spent the last 18 months of his life fighting to protect his relationship with his son and preserve these family bonds. His wishes were clear: that his child would grow up knowing his family and surrounded by love, continuity, and support.

Yet under current Florida law, once a parent dies, those wishes are erased. We are not even permitted to petition the court for visitation. A judge will never hear our story or be allowed to consider whether maintaining these established family relationships is in our grandson’s best interest.

Florida is home to 11 million grandparents who play vital roles in their grandchildren’s lives, yet current statutes fail to protect children in their right to have forever bonds with their grandparents. Instead of empowering judges to assess a child’s best interests, the law leaves children vulnerable to losing an entire side of their family forever.

This petition calls on Florida legislators to reform the law so judges are allowed to hear these cases, consider the wishes of a deceased parent, and with a presumption of visitation, protect a child’s right to family, identity, and continuity. No child should lose their parent—and then lose their family too.