Florida’s policy that both parents should have an ongoing and regular relationship with their children, whether after a divorce or a breakup. While every family situation is unique, our goal is the same when it comes to establishing a Parenting Plan: to help you achieve the best possible outcome.
Parenting Plans comprise two main concepts:
- Parental Responsibility: This is the shared obligation of the parents to communicate and cooperate in making major life decisions about their shared child, such as changes in education, major medical, dental, psychiatric, orthodontic and vision treatments, and matters of religious upbringing. It is the presumption of the statute that parents shall share parental responsibility unless there is a proven allegation of one parent’s decision making having caused detriment to the child. This is a high standard to prove, and tracks in case law with similar findings as might be seen in a Dependency action (it is not, in other words, about mere opinion differences, but demonstrable harm as a result of a parent’s decision).
- Time-Sharing: Time-Sharing is just that – the schedule by which the child will rotate between homes. There is a rebuttable presumption in favor of equal time – though no specific schedule is preferred (i.e. it can be week on/off, a balance of overnights with one parent over school year and the other over breaks, a 2/2/5 rotation, or similar). Which schedule suits the family depends upon the child themselves. Factors such as school zone, extracurricular activities, and academic involvement might lend themselves toward preferring one type of schedule over another. Generally speaking time over major holidays will be rotated so that each parent has a turn with Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, etc.
Even if you and your co-parent have agreed on a schedule, you will need a Parenting Plan to map out specifics. Parenting Plans should address everything from decision making about education, health, religious upbringing and extra-curricular activities, to parent and child communication, default scheduling (both during the school year and over breaks and holidays), school zone, transportation, and travel with the child. To be enforceable with the Court, all of this must be put into writing and signed and notarized by both parents.
If you have not already agreed on these issues, you will need a lawyer to help you proactively pursue your rights. Given changes to the law, Courts will default to shared parental responsibility and equal time-sharing, but these are both presumptions that can be overcome if it is deemed to be in the better interest of the child.
What Do Courts Look At?
When deciding a Parenting Plan, the Court is going to look at the “best interests of the child.” This is not about opinion, but rather are actual factors set forth in the Florida Statutes. While these factors do consider how well the parties work together as co-parents, in the main they focus on the child’s lives, and how to best minimize the effects of divorce. These factors include:
- The reasonableness and flexibility of the parent;
- Whether a parent can independently handle the child;
- If a parent puts the child’s needs/wants before their own;
- How long the child has been in their current environment and how stable/satisfactory it is (and this, it is noted, is not about monetary advantage, but rather the concept of the home being supportive of the child).
- How far away the parents will be living from each other (and what school zone is in the child’s better interest).
- The moral fitness of the parents (i.e. ability to cooperate with religious upbringing decisions and/or to keep their adult lives private from the child);
- The mental and physical health of the parents;
- The home, school, and community record of the child;
- The reasonable preference of the child, if the court deems them of age (even if the child is permitted an opinion, that opinion is NOT dispositive, which means it does not override the totality of other best interest factors);
- A parent’s demonstrated knowledge and involvement with the child’s friends, teachers, medical care providers, daily activities, and favorite things;
- The ability of a parent to provide consistent routine for the child, such as discipline, and daily schedules for homework, meals, and bedtime;
- The demonstrated ability and willingness of the parent to communicate with their co-parent;
- Evidence of domestic violence, sexual violence, child abuse, child abandonment, or child neglect;
- Evidence that either parent has knowingly lied to the court about any abuse issue;
- What role each parent customarily had during the intact relationship, and how that will change;
- A parent’s involvement in school and extracurricular activities;
- The parent’s ability to keep the child free from exposure to substance abuse;
- The ability of a parent to resist making disparaging comments about the other parent to the child (including on social media, which children can easily access) and to avoid involving the child in the litigation;
- The developmental stages and needs of the child and if a parent is equipped to handle those challenges; and,
- Any other factor that is relevant.
To either rebut the presumptions of shared parental responsibility and/or equal time, you must be prepared to speak about these 20 factors, and to focus less on your deteriorated coparent relationship (though that is relevant) than on issues such as the routine of the child, the child’s own interests and activities, and how you as a parent are proactively engaged and able to meet those needs and obligations.
Remember: the parenting plan is not about you, nor even your co-parent. It is about how to best protect and enhance the life of your child.
Questions about Parental Responsibility and Time-Sharing? Call us at 407-403-5990 or contact us (below) to schedule your appointment.
