Florida Custody Forms & Guides

Statutes

• Fla. Stat. § 61.13 — Support of Children; Parenting and Time-Sharing; Powers of Court

  The best interests of the child must be the primary consideration in establishing or modifying parental responsibility or a parenting plan, and a determination of parental responsibility, a parenting plan, or a time-sharing schedule may not be modified without a showing of a substantial and material change in circumstances and a determination that the modification is in the best interests of the child. If the parents lived more than 50 miles apart when the last time-sharing order was entered and a parent moves within 50 miles of the other parent, that move may be considered a substantial and material change, so long as the modification is found to be in the child's best interests. Unless otherwise provided in the section or agreed by the parties, there is a rebuttable presumption that equal time-sharing is in the best interests of the child; to rebut it, a party must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that equal time-sharing is not in the child's best interests. Except when the parties agree to a schedule and the court approves it, the court must evaluate all of the statutory best-interest factors and make specific written findings of fact when creating or modifying a time-sharing schedule. Florida dropped the requirement that the change be 'unanticipated,' and created the equal time-sharing presumption, effective July 1, 2023 (ch. 2023-301). The court must order shared parental responsibility unless it finds that would be detrimental to the child, considering evidence of domestic violence, reasonable fear of domestic or sexual violence, or abuse, abandonment, or neglect.

• Fla. Stat. § 61.13(4) — Failure to Honor the Time-Sharing Schedule

  A parent who is owed child support or alimony may not refuse to honor the time-sharing schedule because the other parent has not paid, and a parent whose time-sharing was denied must keep paying any ordered support. When a parent refuses to honor the time-sharing schedule without proper cause, the court shall calculate the time improperly denied and award the other parent a sufficient amount of extra time-sharing to compensate, ordered as expeditiously as possible, consistent with the child's best interests, convenient for the nonoffending parent, and at the noncompliant parent's expense. The court may also order the noncompliant parent to pay the other parent's reasonable court costs and attorney's fees to enforce the schedule, attend an approved parenting course, perform community service, bear the financial burden of promoting contact when the parent and child live more than 60 miles from the other parent, modify the parenting plan at the nonviolating parent's request if that is in the child's best interests, or impose any other reasonable sanction. A person who violates subsection (4) may be punished by contempt of court or other remedies as the court deems appropriate. Sanctions 2 through 5 apply to a parent who either did not provide time-sharing or did not properly exercise their own time-sharing.

• Fla. Stat. § 61.13001 — Parental Relocation With a Child

  A relocation is a change of a parent's principal residence of at least 50 miles from the residence at the time of the last time-sharing order (or the filing of a pending action) for at least 60 consecutive days, not counting temporary absences for vacation, education, or the child's health care. Unless all parties have a written relocation agreement, the parent seeking to relocate must file a petition to relocate, signed under oath, and serve it on the other parent and everyone else with time-sharing; it must state the new address, the move date, the specific reasons (attaching any written job offer), and a proposed post-move time-sharing and transportation schedule, without which the petition is legally insufficient. An objecting party must file and serve a verified written response stating the specific factual basis within 20 days after service; if no timely response is filed the relocation is presumed to be in the child's best interest and the court shall, absent good cause, enter an order allowing it, but if a response is timely filed the parent may not relocate without court permission after a temporary hearing or trial. No presumption for or against relocation applies, the court must evaluate the statutory factors, and the relocating parent has the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that relocation is in the child's best interest; if that burden is met, the burden shifts to the nonrelocating parent to show by a preponderance of the evidence that it is not. Absent good cause, a temporary-relocation hearing must occur within 30 days after the motion is filed and a nonjury trial within 90 days after the notice for trial, and relocating without complying subjects the parent to contempt and may be weighed against them in later relocation and modification decisions. The 'no presumption' rule applies when the move will materially affect the current schedule of contact, access, and time-sharing with the nonrelocating parent. A petition that lacks the proposed post-move schedule is legally insufficient unless a current valid order restricts time-sharing or other good cause predating the petition exists. If everyone with time-sharing signs a written relocation agreement and a case is pending, the court may ratify it without a hearing unless a party requests one in writing within 10 days after it is filed.

• Fla. Stat. § 61.30 — Child Support Guidelines

  The guideline amount determined under s. 61.30 presumptively establishes the amount the court must order as child support, in an initial proceeding or a modification proceeding. The court may vary the amount by plus or minus 5 percent after considering all relevant factors, including the child's needs, age, station in life, standard of living, and each parent's financial status and ability, but may vary it by more than 5 percent only on a written finding explaining why ordering the guideline amount would be unjust or inappropriate. Whenever a child is required by court order or mediation agreement to spend a substantial amount of time with either parent, the court must vary support as provided in s. 61.30(11)(b). The guidelines can show a substantial change in circumstances for modification only if the difference between the existing obligation and the guideline amount is at least 15 percent or $50, whichever is greater. A 'substantial amount of time' for the (11)(b) adjustment means at least 20 percent of the overnights in the year, and a parent's failure to regularly exercise the time-sharing on which that adjustment was based is itself a substantial change of circumstances, with modification retroactive to when the failure began (§ 61.30(11)(b)8., (11)(c)).

• Fla. Stat. § 61.45 - Court-Ordered Parenting Plan; Risk of Violation; Bond

  When a court enters or modifies a parenting plan and there is competent substantial evidence of a risk that a party may violate it by removing the child from Florida or the country or by concealing the child's whereabouts (or the parties stipulate, or the court finds a credible risk of removal), the court may bar removal without both parents' notarized written permission or a court order, require surrender of the child's passport, impose travel restrictions or supervised visitation, and require a party to post a bond or other security large enough to deter abduction. The court must consider the party's financial resources and may not set an unreasonable bond, and on a material violation by removing or concealing the child the court may order the bond forfeited, with the proceeds used to reimburse the other parent's costs and damages, locate and return the child, and pay reasonable fees and costs. This section, including the bond requirement, does not apply to a parent the court determines is a victim of domestic violence or has reasonable cause to believe is about to become one, and a domestic violence injunction in that parent's favor in effect at the time is one way to show it. This section targets removal and concealment; the general remedies for a missed or refused time-sharing schedule (make-up time, fees, contempt) are in § 61.13(4).

• Fla. Stat. § 61.517 - Temporary Emergency Jurisdiction

  A Florida court has temporary emergency jurisdiction to make a custody order if the child is present in Florida and the child has been abandoned, or it is necessary in an emergency to protect the child because the child, or a sibling or parent of the child, is subjected to or threatened with mistreatment or abuse (a 2023 amendment, ch. 2023-90, added a third ground relating to sex-reassignment prescriptions or procedures). If no enforceable custody order exists and no case has been filed in a state with regular jurisdiction, the emergency order lasts until a court with regular jurisdiction rules, and can become final if it says so and Florida becomes the home state. If an enforceable order exists or a case is pending elsewhere, the Florida order must set a period long enough for the parent to obtain an order from that state, and the Florida court must immediately communicate with the other court. The statute sets no hearing deadline of its own. If an enforceable order exists or a case is pending in another state, the Florida emergency order expires when that period ends unless the other state rules first.

• Fla. Stat. § 61.534 - Warrant to Take Physical Custody of Child

  After filing a petition to enforce a custody determination, a parent may file a verified application for a warrant to take physical custody of the child if the child is likely to imminently suffer serious physical harm or removal from Florida. If the court, on the testimony of the petitioner or another witness, finds that risk, it may issue a warrant directing law enforcement to take physical custody of the child immediately, and the petition must be heard on the next judicial day after the warrant is executed (or the first judicial day possible). The warrant must recite the facts supporting the finding and provide for the child's placement pending final relief, the respondent must be served immediately after the child is taken, and the court may authorize entry onto private property, or forcible entry at any hour in exigent circumstances, if a less intrusive remedy is not effective. Since a 2023 amendment (ch. 2023-90), serious physical harm expressly includes being subjected to sex-reassignment prescriptions or procedures. The court may impose conditions on the child's placement to ensure the child and custodian appear.