Florida Child Custody Lawyer
Florida does not award “custody” to a parent; it adopts a parenting plan, and since 2023 the plan is presumed to split time equally
Florida retired the words “custody” and “visitation” years ago. What a court decides under section 61.13 is a parenting plan: shared or sole parental responsibility for the big decisions, a time-sharing schedule that says where the children sleep on which nights, and the details that keep two households running, from holidays and exchanges to phone calls and travel. Since July 1, 2023, the law presumes that equal time-sharing is in a child’s best interests, which changed the starting point in every case: a parent who wants the children most of the time now has to prove, with evidence under the statute’s best-interest factors, why the other parent should have less. Kemp Law Group’s family law attorney, Scott Finelli, handles parenting plans, time-sharing disputes, relocation, modification and enforcement for parents in Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough and Hernando counties and throughout Florida, from the firm’s office in Trinity.
Call (727) 847-4878 or contact us online for a free, confidential consultation. We answer 24/7, in English and Spanish.
What a parenting plan decides
Parental responsibility
Shared parental responsibility is the rule: both parents confer and decide together on schooling, medical care, religion and the other major questions, and both have full access to records. The court orders sole responsibility, or gives one parent the final say on a particular subject, only when shared responsibility would harm the child, which usually means a history of domestic violence, substance abuse or a parent who will not communicate at all.
Time-sharing
The schedule is written to the day: the school-year rotation, summer, the holiday schedule that alternates by year, exchanges, and what happens when a parent cannot take a scheduled night. Under the 2023 presumption, an equal schedule is the default, in whatever pattern fits the children and the parents’ work: week on, week off; a 2-2-5-5 rotation; or split weeks with a midweek overnight. The best-interest factors in section 61.13(3) decide any departure from equal time: which parent has handled the daily tasks, each parent’s willingness to support the child’s relationship with the other, the stability each home offers, the child’s school and community, any violence or abuse, and the reasonable preference of a child mature enough to express one.
The rest of the plan
Communication between the child and the parent who does not have the child that night, how school and medical information is shared, travel and passports, which parent claims the child for taxes, and how disputes are resolved before anyone goes back to court. A plan that leaves these out is a plan that produces a motion six months later.
Parenting plans for unmarried parents
A parenting plan is not only for divorce. Since the 2023 amendment to Florida’s paternity law, an unmarried father who establishes paternity has the same rights as the mother, and either parent can petition for a parenting plan and time-sharing schedule in a paternity action; see our paternity page.
Relocation, modification and enforcement
- Relocation. A parent who wants to move more than 50 miles for 60 days or more must have the other parent’s written agreement or the court’s permission under section 61.13001. Moving first and asking later is the error the statute punishes most, and the hearing weighs the reasons for the move against its effect on the child’s relationship with the parent left behind.
- Modification. A parenting plan can be changed on a substantial and material change in circumstances when modification is in the child’s best interests; since 2023 the change no longer has to have been unanticipated, and where the parents lived more than 50 miles apart when the plan was entered, one parent’s move to within 50 miles of the child is itself a qualifying change. Children growing, parents remarrying and work schedules changing are the common grounds.
- Enforcement. A parent who withholds time-sharing faces make-up time, attorney’s fees, contempt and a modification in the other parent’s favor under section 61.13(4). We move quickly, because the pattern a court sees is the one it rules on.
How a custody case proceeds
- Petition for dissolution with children, for a paternity judgment, or for modification, in the circuit court family division for the county: the West Pasco Judicial Center in New Port Richey or the Sumner Judicial Center in Dade City; the Clearwater Courthouse or the St. Petersburg Judicial Building; the Edgecomb courthouse in Tampa; the Hernando County Courthouse in Brooksville.
- The parenting course required of both parents, and a proposed parenting plan from each side.
- Temporary time-sharing ordered early where the parents cannot agree on a schedule while the case is pending.
- Evidence: school and medical records, the parents’ communications, witnesses, and where the facts call for it a social investigation or a guardian ad litem appointed for the child.
- Mediation, required before a contested hearing and where most plans are settled.
- Trial before a judge on what remains, and a final judgment adopting the plan.
How family law fees work at Kemp Law Group
Family law cases are not handled on a contingency fee; The Florida Bar does not allow one in divorce, custody or support matters. Scott quotes the fee for your case at the initial consultation, which is free, so you know the cost before you decide. Our personal injury cases are handled on a contingency fee; family law matters never are.
Our family law practice also handles divorce, alimony and paternity; see our family law page for the practice as a whole.
Frequently asked questions about child custody in Florida
Does Florida favor the mother?
No. The statute forbids any preference by sex, and since 2023 the law presumes equal time-sharing. The parent who wants more than half has to prove why that serves the child.
At what age can a child choose which parent to live with?
There is no age. A judge may consider the preference of a child with enough maturity and understanding to express one, as one factor among many, and judges rarely put a child on the stand to do it.
Can I move with the children?
Not more than 50 miles for 60 days or longer without the other parent’s written agreement or a court order under section 61.13001. Moving first is the surest way to lose the request.
My ex keeps the children on my days. What can I do?
File to enforce the plan. The court can order make-up time and attorney’s fees, hold the other parent in contempt, and in a persistent case modify the plan in your favor.
How is child support figured?
By the guidelines in section 61.30, from both parents’ net incomes and the number of overnights each has, plus health insurance and daycare. An equal schedule does not mean no support; the higher earner still pays the difference.
Can grandparents get time-sharing?
Only in narrow circumstances under section 752.011, such as when both parents are dead, missing or in a persistent vegetative state, or one is and the other has been convicted of a violent felony. Grandparents raising a child usually proceed through temporary custody by an extended family member under chapter 751 instead.
Do I need to come to your office?
The initial consultation can be in person at our Trinity office or by phone or video. Hearings and mediation are in the county where the case is filed, and Scott appears in the family divisions of Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough and Hernando regularly.
If you need a parenting plan, or need one changed or enforced, call (727) 847-4878 or request a free, confidential consultation online. We answer 24 hours a day.
