USA – FLORIDA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Elisha D. Roy and Carolyn Ware, Sasser, Cestero & Roy
changes to parenting, removing the concepts of cus ‑ tody and visitation from the vernacular and instead implementing the use of Parenting Plans. The idea that the court needed to choose the “better” or “best” parent gradually receded, as it became more widely accepted that most cases involved two parents doing their best, each of whom should have time with their children. Child-related litigation became largely con ‑ fined to genuinely contentious cases involving alle ‑ gations of abuse or other real detriment to a child. Regrettably, the 50/50 presumption appears to have revived the perception that the court must once again identify the “better” parent in order to rebut the equal presumption. So, where courts were previously awarding equal timesharing in most cases without a statutory presumption and without extensive litiga ‑ tion, litigation is again on the rise, and it remains to be seen whether equal timesharing will continue to be the norm. There is certainly a fear that the creation of the presumption may have the opposite effect. Procedural Issues Recently, in an effort to clear court dockets, Florida’s Supreme Court instituted a rule that family law cases must be cleared from the docket in 180 days. This has put a strain on lawyers and clients alike, espe ‑ cially in complex family law litigation. It can often take over 90 days to obtain the necessary discovery to fully evaluate the financial issues in family law cases. As an example, to obtain discovery from a third party, a notice must first be filed with the court with a ten-day grace period for objections. After those ten days pass, the subpoena for non-party records can be served, to which the recipient has about 30 days to respond. However, if there is an objection, a hearing must be held before the court, and that can take weeks to obtain, not even accounting for requests for exten ‑ sions of time within which to produce the requested documents. This can make it nearly impossible to be prepared for court within this 180-day period. Many judges are implementing case management processes that require a case to be prepared for trial before a trial is even set. This creates a significant financial burden on clients in family law cases as rarely will the case be set for trial quickly enough that the preparation completed will still be ripe or relevant at the time of the actual trial.
While practitioners understand the need for the dock ‑ ets to be cleared, a rule to expand the date require ‑ ments for complex family law cases may be necessary to ensure the best interests of the child standard are still being met in those more complicated matters. Practice Implications and Strategic Considerations It is recommended that practitioners: • update initial questions to capture immigration, international travel, and assisted reproduction details, and adopt calibrated confidentiality proto ‑ cols for sensitive status information; • implement early reviews of personal and subject- matter jurisdiction, international service methods, and remote testimony logistics; calendar any new statutory deadlines tied to Chapter 61 motions and parenting plan submissions; • anticipate the need for experts in international family systems, child psychology, or reproductive medicine; secure affidavits addressing best-inter ‑ est factors, travel risk mitigation, and parentage determinations; • incorporate statutory changes into mediation briefs; craft parenting plans with granular provi ‑ sions for passports, travel consent, virtual contact, and dispute-resolution tiers; • refresh surrogacy agreements, parentage plead ‑ ings, and timesharing templates to align with any new 2026 statutory text; implement checklists that mirror revised factor tests and filing requirements; and • prepare targeted case management propos ‑ als addressing international elements, expedited parenting enforcement, and, where applicable, streamlined parentage order pathways. Conclusion Florida family law in 2026 reflects converging trends in immigration, assisted reproduction, and timesharing. Attorneys should proactively adapt workflows, tem ‑ plates, and litigation strategies to ensure compliance and to advance client outcomes under an evolving statutory framework. As the 2026 proposed bills and legislative session advance, ongoing monitoring and prompt practice updates will be essential to maintain effective representation across these rapidly develop ‑ ing domains.
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