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Florida Child Custody Law

Written by: Diana Michelle Tennis

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Posted over 2 years ago. Applies to Florida, 2 helpful votes, 0 comments

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Understand the New Custody Law

The bottom line is that the law makers have done away with “custody” and a "primary residential parent”. Instead the Judges will be required to include in the Final Judgment a "Parenting Plan" that develops a "time share" arrangement. This plan will either be agreed upon by the parties, or the Judge will draft one for the parties after a trial. There are some judges who seem to start with an assumption that because of this new law a 50-50% time sharing is the place to start. Ask your prospective lawyer about the Judge you have in your case and what their experiences are in this area.

Understand what is in a Parenting Plan

A Parenting Plan is going to be a long document that covers: * Who will deal with particular responsibilities for daily living for the children; * How those child issues will be dealt with, including medical, scholastic, and activities; * A contact schedule that sets out the regular time sharing for the parents on a monthly basis, and also for holidays and summers; * How the parties communicate with the children.

Understand what the Judge will be looking for

Some factors the Judge is going to consider when ordering a plan will be: * Best Interests of the Child; * All factors that would effect the welfare and best interest of child; * Demonstrated capacity of each parent to encourage a close relationship between the child and the other parent, the ability to honor a time share schedule, and the ability to be reasonable when changes are required; * Anticipated division of parental responsibilities after divorce, including to the extent that parenting duties will be delegated to third parties; * Ability of each party to act on the needs of the child instead of their own needs; * Length of time the child has lived in a stable, satisfactory environment; * Geographic viability of the Parenting Plan considering school and travel times; * The mental and physical health of parents; * The home, school and community record of the child; * Reasonable preference of the child