Mar 9, 2026
A Florida appellate court has recently found a “co-parenting agreement” that “jointly and equally” gave parental authority to a couple to raise a 5-year-old boy was unenforceable. The Second District Court of Appeal in Springer v, Springer held that a biological parent could not be forced to share parental rights with a non-biologically related second parent, despite their expressed intent to raise the child together. Only the parent who was biologically related to the child had parental rights, which includes the right to withhold time-sharing from the other parent. This case signifies the importance of completing stepparent and second parent adoptions to preserve your relationship with the child.
