12.905(a): Supplemental Petition to Modify Parenting Plan and Time-Sharing

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. § 61.13001 — 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.