Florida no longer uses the old terms “custody” and “visitation” in the way many people still use them in conversation. Florida courts use the terms parenting plan, parental responsibility, and time-sharing. The words changed, but the underlying concern remains the same: how will two parents raise their children when they no longer live together?
As a Jacksonville parenting plan lawyer, I help parents create parenting plans that are detailed, realistic, and focused on the children. A good parenting plan should reduce conflict, not create new arguments every week. It should tell both parents what is expected and give the children as much stability as possible.
Parenting plans may arise in divorce, paternity, modification, enforcement, and relocation cases.
What Is a Parenting Plan?
A parenting plan is a court-approved document that explains how parents will share responsibilities for their children. It must include a time-sharing schedule and should address important practical details such as school decisions, health care, extracurricular activities, communication, transportation, holidays, travel, and decision-making authority.
Even when parents agree, the court still needs a parenting plan in cases involving minor children. A vague agreement to “work it out” is usually not enough. The plan should be specific enough that both parents can follow it and a judge can enforce it.
Parental Responsibility in Florida
Parental responsibility refers to decision-making authority. In many cases, parents share parental responsibility, meaning they must confer and jointly make major decisions affecting the child. Major decisions commonly include education, non-emergency medical care, religious upbringing, and significant extracurricular activities.
Shared parental responsibility does not mean every small daily decision must be jointly approved. The parent exercising time-sharing usually makes ordinary day-to-day decisions during that parent’s time. But the big decisions should be handled as the parenting plan requires.
Ultimate Decision-Making Authority
Sometimes parents share parental responsibility, but one parent has ultimate decision-making authority over a specific subject, such as education or health care. This may be appropriate when parents can communicate generally but regularly deadlock on one recurring issue.
Sole Parental Responsibility
Sole parental responsibility is less common and generally requires evidence showing that shared decision-making would be harmful or unworkable for the child. It is not awarded simply because the parents dislike each other.
Time-Sharing Schedules
A time-sharing schedule states when the child will be with each parent. It should cover regular weekday and weekend time, school breaks, summer, holidays, birthdays, transportation, exchanges, and notice requirements.
Florida law now includes a rebuttable presumption that equal time-sharing is in a child’s best interests. That does not mean every case will be 50/50. A parent who believes equal time-sharing is not appropriate may present evidence about the child’s needs, the parents’ work schedules, the distance between homes, school stability, history of caregiving, domestic violence, substance abuse, special needs, or other best-interest factors.
Best Interests of the Child
The best interests of the child control parenting decisions in Florida. Courts consider many factors, including each parent’s ability to encourage a close relationship with the other parent, each parent’s demonstrated parenting capacity, the child’s school and community record, the mental and physical health of the parents, the child’s developmental needs, moral fitness, domestic violence, substance abuse, and the willingness of each parent to follow a schedule.
Judges usually want parenting plans that are practical. A schedule that looks fair on paper may fail if the parents live too far apart, work unusual hours, cannot transport the child, or cannot communicate about school and medical issues.
Details a Good Parenting Plan Should Include
The best parenting plans are specific without being needlessly rigid. Depending on the family, the plan may address:
- regular school-year time-sharing;
- summer and school breaks;
- Thanksgiving, winter break, spring break, and other holidays;
- Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, birthdays, and family events;
- exchange locations and transportation responsibility;
- school enrollment and access to school records;
- medical, dental, and counseling decisions;
- extracurricular activities and payment responsibility;
- out-of-state and international travel;
- phone, FaceTime, and electronic communication;
- right of first refusal, if appropriate; and
- how parents will resolve future disagreements.
Parenting Plans and Child Support
Time-sharing affects child support. The number of overnights each parent exercises is part of the Florida child support calculation. Health insurance, daycare, income, and the number of children also matter. You can review my child support page or use my Florida child support calculator for a starting point.
When Parents Agree
If parents agree on a parenting plan, the process is usually more efficient and less expensive. The agreement still needs to be carefully drafted. Ambiguous language can create future disputes, especially about holidays, exchanges, travel, and decision-making authority.
Many parenting plan disputes are resolved through mediation. Mediation gives parents a chance to create a plan that fits their family better than a one-size-fits-all court order.
When Parents Do Not Agree
If parents cannot agree, the court will decide. In contested cases, preparation matters. Useful evidence may include school records, medical records, communication logs, work schedules, calendars, photographs, witness testimony, and documentation showing each parent’s involvement in the child’s daily life.
The goal is not to attack the other parent for sport. The goal is to show the court what schedule and decision-making structure best serves the child.
Modifying or Enforcing a Parenting Plan
Parenting plans can sometimes be modified if there has been a substantial, material, and unanticipated change in circumstances and the requested change is in the child’s best interests. If the problem is that the other parent is not following the current order, enforcement or contempt may be more appropriate than modification.
If you need help creating, changing, or enforcing a parenting plan in Jacksonville or Northeast Florida, contact my office to discuss your options.