Jacksonville Child Custody Lawyer
Beller Law, PL’s Jacksonville child custody attorney is compassionate and dedicated to fighting to help you get the best outcome for you and your child. We can guide you through the custody process, from filing your initial petition to requesting custody modifications. Having a Jacksonville child custody or child modification attorney who is familiar with the judges and other attorneys in the area can also make a big difference in understanding the process and potential outcomes. Contact us today.
Understanding Child Custody
Florida law defines custody in terms of parental responsibility and shared time. When deciding how to award custody, Florida courts consider the best interests of the child as the primary factor.
General Types of Custody Arrangements
Traditionally, custody involves physical and legal categories. When you have physical custody, your child lives with you on a relatively full-time basis. When you have legal custody, you have the right to make important decisions about your child’s life.
You can have joint or sole custody. Parents typically have one of the following custody arrangements:
- The parents share physical and legal custody;
- The parents share legal custody, but one parent has sole or majority physical custody; or
- One parent has sole physical and legal custody.
When one parent has sole physical custody, the other usually has specific visitation rights only.
Custody Arrangements in Florida
In Florida, parents may have the following custody arrangements:
- The parents share parental responsibility and time — generally equivalent to shared legal and physical custody;
- The parents share parental responsibility, but one parent has primary time — generally equivalent to shared legal custody with sole physical custody; or
- One parent has sole parental responsibility and the other has limited or no time with the child — generally equivalent to one parent having sole physical and legal custody.
Parental responsibility is comparable to legal custody, and time-sharing is comparable to physical custody. However, time-sharing also encompasses visitation, blurring the categorical lines.
Factors in Custody Determinations
When deciding custody issues, Florida courts must determine the child’s best interests. The courts consider many factors, including each parent’s willingness and ability to:
- Create and maintain a strong parent-child relationship;
- Co-parent, share time, and adapt to necessary changes to the parenting plan and schedule;
- Care for and meet the needs of the child;
- Be and stay informed about the child’s life, like knowing the child’s friends, teachers, health providers, activities, and likes and dislikes;
- Provide a consistent routine for the child;
- Communicate with the other parent and work with them about issues related to the child to resolve them;
- Be involved in the child’s educational and extracurricular activities;
- Meet the child’s developmental needs;
- Provide the child with an environment free from substance abuse; and
- Protect the child from potential harm related to the custody dispute.
Other factors related to the child’s best interests include:
- How parents will divide responsibilities and the division of responsibilities before the custody case began;
- Where the child has lived, for how long, and how well their needs were met there;
- Practicalities related to the geographic location where each parent lives;
- The child’s home, school, and community history;
- The child’s preferences, if the child is sufficiently mature;
- Each parent’s moral fitness,
- Each parent’s mental and physical health,
- The child’s developmental stage and needs;
- Any history of domestic or sexual violence, child abuse or neglect, or abandonment committed or allowed to be committed by a parent;
- A parent’s reasonable belief that they or their child are in danger of domestic violence; and
- Any history of a parent lying to the court.
The courts presume that sharing equal time is in the child’s best interests, but you can present evidence to the court to request unequal time if equal time-sharing is not best for the child.
Courts also presume that sharing parental responsibility is in the child’s best interests. You can present evidence to the court otherwise if shared parental time would be detrimental to the child based on factors like one parent’s:
- Acts of domestic violence;
- Reasonable belief in the danger of domestic or sexual violence directed at a parent or the child;
- Reasonable belief in the danger of child abuse, neglect, or abandonment;
- Domestic violence convictions;
- Long-term incarceration;
- History of violent crimes; and
- Past sexual offenses.
The court may consider any other relevant factors as well.
Modifying Child Custody
To change an existing child custody order, you need to show that a substantial and material change in circumstances has occurred and modification is in the child’s best interests.
Often, a substantial and material change involves circumstances that indicate a parent has become more or less able to meet the child’s needs.
Our Jacksonville child custody modification lawyer can help you determine whether you have grounds to request a custody modification. We can advise you on how your unique situation might create a substantial and material change in circumstances and help you present the best case that modification is in your child’s best interests.
Parenting Plans and Agreements
Along with establishing custody, you need to create a parenting plan or agreement. In that plan, you must address:
- How you will share responsibility for the daily care of your child;
- How much time and the schedule as to when your child will spend with each parent;
- Who is responsible for your child’s healthcare, school registration, and other activities; and
- How you will communicate with your child.
Explaining how much time your child will spend with each parent requires a time-sharing plan. In that plan, you explain how you will split your time with the child. You should address your weekly routine, exchanges where you take the child to the other parent, and where the child will spend holidays. Importantly, the parents can vary the plan from time to time as they agree. The parenting plan is there to help avoid arguments if the parents do not agree, and then they simply follow the plan.
Mediation and Alternative Dispute Resolution
Minimizing parental conflict is critical to minimizing the negative effects of divorce or parental separation on children. If you and your co-parent cannot work together amicably, many options are available to help you avoid the time, stress, and cost of a public trial.
You can attend mediation with your co-parent. In mediation, a neutral third party—the mediator—guides you through a collaborative conversation about your custody wishes. The mediator proposes resolutions, which you and your co-parent are free to accept or reject.
Additionally, you can request that a parenting coordinator assist you in reaching a custody and parenting agreement. The coordinator, who is often a licensed and trained therapist, can hold confidential sessions to help you and your co-parent reach a solution.
Consulting with a Jacksonville Child Custody Attorney
Navigating these legal complexities and safeguarding parental rights typically requires the assistance of an experienced lawyer. Contact Beller Law, PL to learn more about how our Jacksonville child custody lawyer can help.