USA – FLORIDA Law and Practice Contributed by: Elisha D. Roy, Sasser, Cestero & Roy
jurisdiction on the grounds that a court of Florida is the more appropriate forum to determine the custody of the child; or • no court of any other state would have jurisdiction under the criteria specified in the bullet points above. The courts look at the child’s home state to determine jurisdiction. A child’s “home state” is the state in which a child lived with a parent or a person acting as a parent for at least six con - secutive months immediately before the com - mencement of a child custody proceeding. In the case of a child younger than six months of age, the term means the state in which the child lived from birth with any of the persons men - tioned. A period of temporary absence of any of the mentioned persons is part of the period. § 61.503(7), Fla. Stat. The court does not con - sider the child’s domicile or nationality, but their residence. The child’s physical presence is not necessary to make a custody determination. Florida may invoke emergency jurisdiction under the UCCJEA if necessary. 3.2 Living/Contact Arrangements and Whether parents agree on child arrangements or not, a parenting plan must be entered in Florida that governs the parties’ relationship and timesharing with the minor child. Florida takes a two-pronged approach to parenting, one being decision-making, the other timeshar - ing, or where the child lays their head at night. In addition to providing a “regular” timesharing schedule, the parenting plan will also deal with holidays, school breaks, and assist in decision- making parameters for the parties. If the parties do not agree, then the court will decide, based on § 61.13, Fla. Stat., an appropriate timesharing schedule and create the parenting plan. Effec - Child Maintenance Child Arrangements
tive 1 July 2023, there is a rebuttable presump - tion that an equal timesharing schedule is in a child’s best interests and can only be overcome by a preponderance of the evidence in applying the factors contained in the statute. The court is required to make findings regarding any time - sharing schedule ordered by the court other than one agreed upon by the parties. The decision-making aspect is referred to as shared parental responsibility, and there is a presumption in Florida that it will be awarded in all cases. This means the major decisions for a child’s life must be made together by the parties, and not unilaterally. This would include primar - ily medical and educational decisions as well as other major decisions that may affect a specific family. In some circumstances, the court can award “ultimate decision making” to one parent, but that must be limited to narrow and specific issues. Occasionally, the court may award sole deci - sion-making, but that requires a finding by the court that shared parental responsibility would be detrimental to the child and that is a high burden to meet. Child-related issues are always subject to mod - ification, but for a timesharing schedule to be modified it is necessary for there to be a sub - stantial change in circumstance and a finding that a modification is in the child’s best interests. Child Support Pursuant to § 61.29, Fla. Stat. each parent has a fundamental obligation to support his or her minor or legally dependent children. Child support is the obligated payment of monetary support for the maintenance of a child. See § 61.046, Fla. Stat.
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