IN PLAIN ENGLISH
How custody works in Florida
Instead of "custody," Florida law mostly talks about a parenting plan. [FL-P1] The court approves a parenting plan that covers parental responsibility (who makes major decisions) and a time-sharing schedule (when your child is with each parent). [FL-P1]
Florida law presumes that equal time-sharing is in the child's best interests, unless the parents agree otherwise. [FL-P1] A parent who wants a different split must prove, more likely than not, that equal time is not best for the child. [FL-P1] Unless the parents agree on a schedule, the judge must look at all the best-interest factors and write down specific findings. [FL-P1]
The court must also order shared parental responsibility, meaning both parents make major decisions together, unless sharing would be harmful to the child. [FL-P1] Some facts, such as a parent's conviction for a domestic violence crime of first-degree misdemeanor level or higher, create a presumption that sharing is harmful. [FL-P1]
Parents in a divorce with children or a paternity case about parental responsibility must complete a Parent Education and Family Stabilization Course before the final judgment, unless the court excuses them. [FL-P4]
Words you’ll see in your papers
- Parenting plan
- The court-approved document that says how parents share daily tasks, the time-sharing schedule, who handles health care and school, how parents and child communicate, and where exchanges happen. [FL-P1]
- Time-sharing schedule
- The calendar part of the parenting plan that says when your child is with each parent. [FL-P1]
- Shared parental responsibility
- Both parents keep their full rights and make major decisions together. The court orders it unless it would harm the child. [FL-P1]
- Relocation
- Moving your main home at least 50 miles away from where you lived at the last time-sharing order (or when the case was filed) for at least 60 days in a row. Vacations and trips for school or medical care do not count. [FL-P2]
- Natural guardian
- A parent with legal rights to the child. For a child born to unmarried parents, the father becomes one only after paternity is legally established. [FL-P3]
COMMON QUESTIONS
What parents in Florida ask first
Does Florida start from 50/50?
Yes, as a starting point. The law presumes equal time-sharing is best for the child unless the parents agree otherwise, but a parent can overcome that by proving equal time is not in the child's best interests. [FL-P1] It does not set a particular weekly pattern. [FL-P1]
What does the judge look at?
Florida lists 20 factors. They include: whether each parent encourages the child's relationship with the other parent and follows the schedule; who did the day-to-day parenting before the case; each parent's ability to put the child's needs first and keep a steady routine; how long the child has lived in a stable home; how far apart the homes are; each parent's mental and physical health and moral fitness; the child's school and community record; any domestic violence, sexual violence, child abuse or neglect; any false reports to the court about abuse; a home free from substance abuse; and keeping the child out of the court fight. [FL-P1]
Does my child get to choose?
The judge considers your child's reasonable preference if the judge finds your child has enough intelligence, understanding and experience to express one. [FL-P1] Florida law does not set an age. [FL-P1]
Can I move away with my child?
A move of 50 miles or more for 60 days or longer is a relocation. [FL-P2] If everyone with time-sharing agrees, you can sign a written agreement with a new schedule; if there is already a court order, you then ask the court to approve it. [FL-P2] If not, you must file a sworn petition to relocate that gives the new address, the move date, your reasons and a proposed new schedule, and serve it on the other parent. [FL-P2] The other parent has 20 days after being served to file a written objection; if no one objects in time, the move is presumed to be in the child's best interests and can be allowed without a hearing. [FL-P2] If an objection is filed on time, you may not move until the court gives permission. [FL-P2]
Can the order be changed later?
Yes, but you must show a substantial and material change in circumstances, and that the change is in your child's best interests. [FL-P1] If the parents lived more than 50 miles apart at the last order and one parent moves within 50 miles, that move may count as a substantial change. [FL-P1]
We were never married. What happens first?
Until paternity is legally established, the mother of a child born to unmarried parents is the child's natural guardian and has primary care and custody unless a court orders otherwise. [FL-P3] A father who establishes paternity gets the same rights and duties as any parent. [FL-P3] A paternity case can set paternity, the parenting plan, time-sharing and child support together. [FL-P9]
What if I am not safe?
A domestic violence injunction can include a temporary parenting plan and time-sharing schedule, which can limit or stop time-sharing or require it to be supervised. [FL-P5] The court can also order exchanges at a neutral safe location. [FL-P5] In any parenting plan, evidence of domestic violence or abuse is one of the factors the judge must weigh. [FL-P1]
Is there a standard schedule?
Not for regular court cases; each family gets its own parenting plan. [FL-P1] The Department of Revenue's child support program offers a Standard Parenting Time Plan, and its administrative child support orders include a parenting time plan only when both parents have agreed to it and signed it. [FL-P6]
Free, official places to start
- Florida Courts: Family Law Forms
The official statewide forms for parenting plans, paternity, relocation and changes to orders.
- Florida Courts: Self-Help Information
The state courts' starting page for people handling their own family case.
- Florida Department of Revenue: Parenting Time Plans
How agreed parenting time plans work inside a child support case.
LOCAL SPOTLIGHT · MIAMI
Miami-Dade County
Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida, Family Division
Miami-Dade's court runs its own Family Court Self-Help Program, which offers ready-made packets for paternity, establishing a parenting plan and time-sharing schedule, relocation, and changing a parenting plan, and, for a service fee, gives procedural help and an initial review of your forms. [FL-P7, FL-P8] Its service fees range from $5 to $125, separate from the clerk's filing fees. [FL-P7] The circuit's Family Court Services unit offers free help such as co-parenting assistance, parenting coordination, supervised visitation and monitored exchanges. [FL-P10] The packets follow the same state law; for example, the paternity packet notes both parents must take a four-hour parenting class. [FL-P9]
- Family Court Self-Help Program
Locations, hours, fees and appointments for Miami-Dade's self-help office.
- Family Court Self-Help Packets and Forms
Downloadable Miami-Dade packets for paternity, parenting plan changes, temporary custody and more.
- Paternity Agreement packet instructions (PDF)
For never-married parents who agree, to set paternity, a parenting plan and child support in one case.
- Family Court Services
Free court services for high-conflict families, including supervised visitation and monitored exchanges.
Other counties in Florida can have different local rules and forms. Check the court where your case is filed.
THE DETAILED GUIDE · WHAT KIND OF SCHEDULE THE LAW PROVIDES
Optional statewide model
Research overview
No fixed statewide calendar identified in the reviewed general-custody authorities despite the equal-time presumption; a separate optional statutory Title IV-D Standard Parenting Time Plan supplies fixed terms only within its agreed administrative scope. [FL-1, FL-2, FL-3]
Legal force and applicability
Limited statutory optional agreed Title IV-D plan; general chapter 61 custody/time-sharing is a separate individualized process.
Schedule & conditions
Read these topics together with your actual order. A model, form, or presumption does not automatically supply an enforceable calendar.
Regular school-year schedule
Optional IV-D model: second/fourth FULL weekends, Friday 6 p.m.–Sunday 6 p.m., with school-based options; one weekday 6–8 p.m. or agreed school-dismissal start. Do not equate second/fourth weekends to an unbroken alternate-weekend sequence. [FL-2,FL-3]
Holidays and school breaks
Optional model: support-obligor parent gets Thanksgiving in even years, first winter half through Dec 26 noon in odd years, second winter half from Dec 26 noon in even years, spring break in even years; detailed hours/options in statute/form. [FL-2,FL-3]
Summer and vacation time
Optional model: two weeks starting 6 p.m. first Sunday after last school day. General court plans individual. [FL-2,FL-3]
Age and development
Model requires special consideration for age and needs; no mandatory infant-age timetable. [FL-2]
Distance, travel, and relocation
The IV-D model has no mileage-tier calendar and is offered subject to Florida home-state/residency and program eligibility requirements. Separately, §61.13(3) permits a move from greater than 50 miles apart at the last time-sharing order to within 50 miles to be considered a substantial/material change for modification, with a best-interest determination. It does not automatically rewrite the schedule. [FL-1,FL-4,FL-5]
Safety & exceptions
IV-D standard model is not provided to families with domestic/family-violence concerns. General §61.13 includes abuse/violence/sexual-offense restrictions and safe exchanges. Under §61.13(9), a plan may not require visits to a parent in a recovery residence from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. absent a specific best-interest finding; a silent plan cannot imply such visits, and visitation at that residence may not be ordered if any resident is a registered sexual predator/offender. [FL-1,FL-2,FL-5]