In July 2023 a new parenting law went into effect in Florida for divorce and paternity cases. The law changes several significant aspects of what is commonly referred to as custody of minor children in Florida. The most significant change is that the law now provides that there is a rebuttable presumption that equal time-sharing of a minor child is in the best interest of the minor child. To rebut this presumption, a parent must prove that equal timesharing is not in the best interest of the child. Historically, there was no presumption in favor of any specific timesharing plan and each family was considered individually as to what plan would be best for the children. Under this new law, the court will begin with a presumption that the children should spend equal time with each parent and develop a plan accordingly unless it is proven not to be in the child’s best interest. How the equal timesharing plan is developed is still a consideration that must be resolved. Some families choose a rotating-week schedule (e.g. exchanging the children each Friday) while other families may be better suited to a divided week schedule (e.g. Mom Monday and Tuesday, Dad Wednesday and Thursday, and rotating Friday through Sunday). The specifics of each plan will depend upon the work schedules of the parents, the division of parenting responsibilities, and many other factors.
In addition, the new law addresses the situation where the parents had a long-distance parenting plan because one parent lived more than 50 miles away but then the “away” parent moved back to within the 50-mile radius. In such a situation, the law now provides that this will be considered a substantial change in circumstances for the modification of the parent plan. Historically, a parent who moved back to the area where the children lived would not have a basis to modify the plan and may be resigned to minimal time with the children even though they lived nearby. Now, the law allows for a modification of the parent plan to have more consistent contact with the children for each parent.
Working out a co-parenting plan is often one of the more difficult issues to be addressed for any family going through transition. If you need help developing your plan, please contact our office for coaching or mediation.