If you have kids and are going to go though a divorce, the number one question is how are we going to handle custody arrangements. Actually, there is no such term as “custody” in the Florida Statutes nor is there a primary or secondary residential parent designation in the Florida Statutes. In Florida, both parents have “time-sharing” with their children. The court will order a time-sharing schedule that is in the best interests of the children taking into consideration factors enumerated in Florida statutes.

Again, in Florida, there is no such legal concept as “custody” of children. Terms that reflect the type of time-sharing schedule include “majority time-sharing” and equal time-sharing.”

If both parents enjoy equal time-sharing, then child support is still calculated using the Child Support Guidelines Worksheet, which is dependent on the parties income, percentage time-sharing (only overnights are used for purposes of establishing the percentages), health insurance, and costs of daycare and uncovered medical expenses. As the payor’s percentage of time-sharing increases, the less he or she will pay in child support generally.

A common misconception is that a parent can refuse to allow visitation if child support is not paid. This is not true. Time-sharing and child support are treated separate and apart from each other by the Florida courts except as it relates to calculating child support.

One of the many factors the court considers when ordering a parenting plan is, “the reasonable preference of the child, if the court deems the child to be of sufficient intelligence, understanding, and experience to express a preference.”

A new law in Florida relating to members of the military states that if a parent is activated, deployed, or temporarily assigned to military service on orders in excess of 90 days, the parent may designate a family member, a stepparent, or a relative of the child by marriage to engage in time-sharing on the parent’s behalf. So if the parent in the military designates a grandparent to time-share in his or her stead, the court would enforce such a designation. The Florida Supreme Court has consistently held all statutes that have attempted to compel visitation or custody with a grandparent based solely on the best interest of the child standard to be unconstitutional.

A parenting plan is a document, or information included in a settlement agreement, that outlines how the parents will parent their children following a dissolution of marriage. Such provisions include, but are not limited to, the time-sharing schedule, holiday time-sharing schedule, provisions for extra-curricular activities, education, child care, contact between the parents, contact between the children and parents, and out-of-state (or country) travel. In every action for paternity or dissolution of marriage in which there are common children, the court will establish a parenting plan.

Ty Zdravko practices law as a divorce attorney, and family law attorney in Palm Harbor, Clearwater and the surrounding area.

For more information, visit our website at www.divorceboardcertified.com
or call (727) 787-5919.