Second District Narrowly Reverses in Grigsby

The opinion was released in Grigsby v. Grigsby by the Second District Court of Appeal yesterday. The lower tribunal had "characterized the Mother's actions as the worst case of parental alientation that it had ever seen" and the ruling below gave sole parental responsibility to the Father and denied all timesharing to the mother. The Court only narrowly reversed that ruling in holding that when a lower tribunal uses its discretion to suspend timesharing, conditions must be contained in the Order which can be met to reestablish a relationship between parent and child. In the lower tribunal's order that decision was relegated to the Father and various unidentified professionals, and as such the non-final Order was remanded for the trial court to set forth the specific steps permitting reestablishment of time-sharing and guidance as to the level of proof required. The lower court was also required to reserve jurisdiction to consider ongoing progress.