Florida Parenting Plan

In Florida, in every divorce case involving minor children, and in every paternity case, a parenting plan Florida will need to be filed. A parenting plan is a roadmap for how things will go concerning the minor children in terms of the parents' interaction with them, and with regard to parental responsibilities. A Florida parenting plan does not address child support per se. The parties can agree to a particular parenting plan in which case they will sign it and submit it to the court. Or if they cannot agree on a plan, the court will determine the terms of the parenting plan based on what the Court believes is in the best interest of the children.

Parenting Plan Florida

The parenting plan will indicate that relocation of the children must be in compliance with Florida law. Generally speaking, relocation of the children is only permissible when the parties agree, or the court allows it. The parenting plan Florida will address parental responsibility. Typically, there is shared parental responsibility which means that the parents must confirm with each other regarding the major issues of the child's life such as health, education, etc. If the parties cannot agree on these topics the court will decide how it's going to be.

Parenting Plan FL

Note that shared parental responsibility is separate from the issue of time sharing, which concerns how much time each parent is going to have with the children. (Florida law talks about time sharing, it no longer uses the terms "visitation" or "custody".) The parties can also agree, or the court can order, that one particular party is responsible for deciding a specific aspect of a child's life such as education or health. Generally speaking, the parties can agree to what they want concerning the children, as long as the court finds that everything is in the best interest of the children. But if the court orders that one party is responsible for a specific aspect of the children's lives to the exclusion of the other party, there must be legally sufficient reasons stated by the court to do this. If one party is a detriment to the children and is not fit and capable to care for the children, the court may order, or the parties may agree to, sole parental responsibility for one parent.

Florida Parenting Plan

So, for example, if one parent has substance abuse problems and is incapable of taking care of the children, that parent may only be able to see the children under the supervision of a third party, or may not be permitted to have the children overnight, or may have only minimal time with the children. The parenting plan FL will also address the children's extracurricular activities in terms of how it's decided which activities the children shall be involved in, and who will pay for those activities. The parenting plan will also typically require that each party have access to information regarding the children such as access to school records, medical records, etc. Further, each party must provide the other party with their address and contact information.

Parenting Plan in Florida

The Florida parenting plan will also very specifically address when each parent is going to have the children. The schedule will need to allocate between the parents the weekday time, weekend time, holidays, winter break, spring break and summer break time. The parenting plan should be very specific and include pickup and drop off times. The parenting plan will also discuss transportation issues such as which parent will pick up and drop off the children, and where the exchange location will be. The parenting plan should also provide for the allocation of transportation costs for time sharing, as well as issues concerning foreign and out of state travel.

Parenting Plan Florida

The parenting plan is not just a requirement of Florida divorce law. It is a method for the parents to have clarity about how their children will be raised. In this regard it benefits both the parents and the children so that there is certainty and a road map to follow. The parenting plan Florida will be a court order and a party's failure to follow that court order can lead to sanctions by the court. Those sanctions may include ordering the party who violates the parenting plan to pay the attorney's fees of the other party because they had to come to court to enforce the plan. And if, for example, a party is deprived of time sharing because the other party will not comply with the plan, the court can order makeup time sharing.