St. Augustine Child Custody & Visitation Attorneys

When couples that have children get divorced a determination must be made regarding parental responsibility and time-sharing.  (The Florida Statutes regarding parental responsibility were recently changed, so the terms "custody" and "visitation" are no longer applicable, the proper term is now "time-sharing.")  The standard followed by Florida courts is to do what is in the child's best interest, most often this includes "shared parental responsibility", which means both parents have decision-making power.  In cases of abuse or neglect the Court may instead award one parent sole parental responsibility with the other parent having little to no contact with the parties' child(ren), this usually requires egregious behavior by the offending parent.  The Court considers many factors in determining the appropriate "parenting plan" for the child(ren), including, but not limited to: who is more likely to allow access to the children and foster a relationship between the children and the other parent, and who can provide the children with the most stability.  People often incorrectly assume that the child decides which parent they will live with once they reach a certain age; in Florida the Court considers many factors, one is the preference of the child, but only if they are of sufficient age and maturity.

See Florida Statute 61.13.

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