Beginning October 1, 2008, there will be a significant number of changes to custody, visitation, and child support laws in Florida. In short, there is no "primary residential parent" anymore. Instead, the new law requires divorced parents share parental responsibility for their child after divorce, unless shared responsibility is detrimental to the child. The reasoning behind this is that Florida feels that it is strong public policy to keep both parents in frequent and continuing contact with their children after divorce. To help facilitate shared parenting, Parenting Plans for all divorcing couples with children are now required in Florida. Any parenting plan approved or imposed by a court must address the following issues:
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Details about how parents will share daily tasks associated with the upbringing of the child.
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Time-sharing schedule that will specify the time the child will spend with each parent.
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Designation of who will be responsible for health care, school-related matters, and other activities.
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Methods and technologies parents will use to communicate with each other and with the child
For purposes of creating or modifying a parenting plan, the best interests of the child shall always be the primary consideration. The factors the Court uses to be considered in determining the best interests of the child include:
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The demonstrated capacity and disposition of each parent to facilitate and encourage a close and continuing parent-child relationship, to honor the time-sharing schedule, and to be reasonable when changes are required.
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The anticipated division of parental responsibilities after the litigation, including the extent to which parental responsibilities will be delegated to third parties.
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The demonstrated capacity and disposition of each parent to determine, consider, and act upon the needs of the child as opposed to the needs or desires of the parent.
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The length of time the child has lived in a stable, satisfactory environment and the desirability of maintaining continuity.
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The geographic viability of the parenting plan, with special attention paid to the needs of school-age children and the amount of time to be spent traveling to effectuate the parenting plan.
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The moral fitness of the parents.
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The mental and physical health of the parents.
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The demonstrated knowledge, capacity, and disposition of each parent to be informed of the circumstances of the minor child, including, but not limited to, the child's friends, teachers, medical care providers, daily activities, and favorite things.
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The reasonable preference of the child, if the court deems the child to be of sufficient intelligence, understanding, and experience to express a preference.
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The demonstrated capacity and disposition of each parent to provide a consistent routine for the child, such as discipline, and daily schedules for homework, meals, and bedtime.
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The demonstrated capacity of each parent to communicate with the other parent and keep the other parent informed of issues and activities regarding the minor child, and the willingness of each parent to adopt a unified front on all major issues when dealing with the child.
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Evidence of domestic violence, sexual violence, child abuse, child abandonment, or child neglect, regardless of whether a prior or pending action regarding those issues has been brought.
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Evidence that either parent has knowingly provided false information to the court regarding any prior or pending action regarding domestic violence, sexual violence, child abuse, child abandonment, or child neglect.
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The particular parenting tasks customarily performed by each parent and the division of parental responsibilities before the institution of litigation and during the pending litigation, including the extent to which parenting responsibilities were undertaken by third parties.
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The demonstrated capacity and disposition of each parent to participate and be involved in the child's school and extracurricular activities.
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The demonstrated capacity and disposition of each parent to maintain an environment for the child which is free from substance abuse.
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The capacity and disposition of each parent to protect the child from the ongoing litigation as demonstrated by not discussing the litigation with the child, not sharing documents or electronic media related to the litigation with the child, and refraining from disparaging comments about the other parent to the child.
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The developmental stages and needs of the child and the demonstrated capacity and disposition of each parent to meet the child's developmental needs.
Any other factor that is relevant to the determination of a specific parenting plan, including the time-sharing schedule.
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