Child Caring And Time Sharing
Heather Byrd, Byrd Law Firm
How is child custody handled in Florida? Child custody is broken down into two separate areas. First is the parental responsibility aspect which is the decision-making aspect of custody arrangements related to children. Generally, parental responsibility is shared unless there are very specific findings to justify one parent having sole parental responsibility or ultimate decision-making authority over major decisions regarding the children. These major decisions generally include medical care and education and are not related to the day-to-day decision-making that happens when a parent has the children in their individual care.
The second area is time-sharing with your children. Time-sharing is just what it sounds like. How are the parties going to share their time with the children? Parents are required to complete a Parenting Plan to assist them in outlining a time-sharing schedule. Often, they require the assistance of counsel or the Court’s determination of the terms of their Parenting Plan because the terms of a Parenting Plan can become the most contentious aspect of a dissolution of marriage proceeding.
If the court is required to make the decision as to the terms of your Parenting Plan for the time-sharing arrangement with your children, the primary standard for determining same is the “best interests of the children”. The court will consider numerous factors in making that determination including what your children have grown accustomed to, how long they’ve been in a stable environment, your geographical location for exercising the time-sharing arrangement, the moral fitness of each parent, and the physical and mental fitness of each parent.
