PARENTING PLANS AND TIMESHARING
Beginning October 1, 2008, Florida law requires Parenting Plans for parents involved in litigation with minor children. A Parenting Plan must specify how the parents will share and be responsible for the daily tasks associated with the upbringing of the child (known as parental responsibility), the time-sharing arrangements that specify the time that the minor child will spend with each parent (known as timesharing schedule), and how much child support must be paid for the benefit of the child. The Parenting Plan must designate who will be responsible for health care, school-related matters, and other activities. It must also describe the methods that the parents will use to communicate with the child. The Court will order that all decision-making be shared by both parents (known as shared parental responsibility) unless it would be detrimental to the child. If the Court determines that shared decision-making would be detrimental to the child, it may order that one party have sole decision-making authority (known as sole parental responsibility). The Court may also grant one parent ultimate decision-making responsibility over specific aspects of the child’s life, including education, health care, etc. Both parents shall have full access to records and information pertaining to a minor child, such as medical, dental, and school records. An important aspect of a Parenting Plan is the timesharing schedule that designates how much time each parent will spend with the child. The timesharing schedule will determine how many days and nights each parent will be with the child, how the child will spend the holidays, vacations and school breaks, and how timesharing exchanges will be handled. It is Florida public policy that each minor child has frequent and continuing contact with both parents after the parents separate and to encourage parents to share the rights and responsibilities of childrearing. There is no presumption for or against the father or mother when creating a timesharing schedule. Finally, the Parenting Plan must include a provision for child support. Child support must be calculated pursuant to the Florida Child Support Guidelines and the parties are not permitted to deviate from the Guidelines child support amount. In addition to child support, the Parenting Plan must determine how the parents will pay for the children’s medical insurance, medical expenses not covered by insurance, and child care expenses. Parents involved in litigation with minor children may agree to the terms of the Parenting Plan and Timesharing Schedule, or, if they are unable to reach an agreement, the Court will make the final decision. For the purposes of establishing parental responsibility, a parenting plan and a timesharing schedule, the best interest of the child is the primary consideration and the Court shall determine this by evaluating the following factors contained in Florida Statute 61.13: (a) 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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