Florida Child Custody Agreement

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   A parenting plan results either way. Florida Statutes section 61.046(14)(a) gives two branches and no third: the plan is developed and agreed to by the parents and approved by a court, or it is established by the court where the parents cannot agree or where the court did not approve the plan they agreed to. Agreeing changes which branch the case takes, not whether a plan exists.

2. 2

   What the agreement buys is procedure. Section 61.13(2)(c)1. requires the court to evaluate all twenty factors in section 61.13(3) and make specific written findings of fact except where the parties agree to a time-sharing schedule that the court approves. An agreed and approved schedule removes that findings exercise, but it does not lower the best interests standard and it does not remove the need for approval.

3. 3

   Florida uses different words for everything here. The document is a parenting plan, the schedule is a time-sharing schedule under section 61.046(23), and decision-making authority is parental responsibility, shared or sole. Custody and visitation survive in chapter 61 only in cross-references to interstate and international rules and to supervised visitation programs. A form written in custody and visitation language is not using Florida's vocabulary.

4. 4

   Since 2023 the court starts from equal time-sharing. Section 61.13(2)(c)1. creates a rebuttable presumption that equal time-sharing of a minor child is in the best interests of the minor child, and a party rebutting it must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that equal time-sharing is not in the child's best interests. The presumption applies unless otherwise provided in that section or agreed to by the parties, so parents who want a different split state it in their agreed schedule.

5. 5

   Section 61.13(2)(b) prescribes what the plan must contain, at a minimum. It must describe in adequate detail how the parents will share and be responsible for the daily tasks associated with the upbringing of the child, include the time-sharing schedule arrangements, designate who is responsible for health care, for school-related matters including the address used for school-boundary determination and registration, and for other activities, describe in adequate detail the methods and technologies the parents will use to communicate with the child, and, unless otherwise agreed by both parents in writing, designate authorized locations for exchanging the child. Section 61.046(14)(b) adds that the plan must address all jurisdictional issues, including the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, the International Child Abduction Remedies Act, the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act, and the Hague Convention.

6. 6

   Florida's factor list is one of the longest in the country, and it is a floor rather than a ceiling. Section 61.13(3) runs from (a) through (t), twenty lettered items with no gaps, but it is prefaced including, but not limited to, and factor (t) is itself any other factor relevant to the determination of a specific parenting plan. Nineteen substantive factors plus one open catch-all, in a list the statute says is not exhaustive.

7. 7

   Domestic violence sits in several layers of chapter 61 at once, and it is separately best interest factor (m). Shared parental responsibility is the default, but the court must deny it where it would be detrimental to the child, and section 61.13(2)(c)2. lists what the court considers on detriment, including evidence of domestic violence. Section 61.13(2)(c)3. then creates a rebuttable presumption that shared parental responsibility is detrimental where a parent has been convicted of a misdemeanor of the first degree or higher involving domestic violence, among other triggers, and the statute adds that whether or not there is a conviction or an injunction the court shall consider evidence of domestic violence or child abuse as evidence of detriment. If there has been abuse or an injunction, this is a situation to raise with a lawyer rather than settle on a form.

Florida Requirements for Child Custody Agreement

• Agreed Parenting Plan Route, Fla. Stat. 61.046(14)(a)

  The parenting plan must be either developed and agreed to by the parents and approved by a court, or established by the court where the parents cannot agree or agreed to a plan that was not approved. There is no route without a plan, so the document should be framed as a plan submitted for approval.

• Time-Sharing Schedule, Fla. Stat. 61.046(23)

  A time-sharing schedule is a timetable that must be included in the parenting plan, specifying the time, including overnights and holidays, that the minor child will spend with each parent. If the parents cannot agree, or their agreed schedule is not approved, the court establishes the schedule.

• Minimum Plan Contents, Fla. Stat. 61.13(2)(b)1. to 5.

  At a minimum the plan must describe how the parents share the daily tasks of upbringing, include the time-sharing schedule arrangements, designate responsibility for health care, for school-related matters including the school-boundary and registration address, and for other activities, describe the methods and technologies used to communicate with the child, and designate authorized exchange locations unless both parents otherwise agree in writing.

• Jurisdictional Issues Clause, Fla. Stat. 61.046(14)(b)

  The plan must address all jurisdictional issues, including the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, the International Child Abduction Remedies Act, the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act, and the Hague Convention. This is a required clause rather than an optional interstate travel paragraph.

• Equal Time-Sharing Presumption, Fla. Stat. 61.13(2)(c)1.

  There is a rebuttable presumption that equal time-sharing is in the child's best interests, rebutted by proof on a preponderance of the evidence. The presumption applies unless otherwise provided in the section or agreed to by the parties, so an agreed schedule should state the split the parents intend.

• Written Findings Exception, Fla. Stat. 61.13(2)(c)1.

  Except where the parties agree to a time-sharing schedule that the court approves, the court must evaluate all twenty factors in section 61.13(3) and make specific written findings of fact. An agreed and approved schedule removes the findings exercise but not the best interests standard.

• Best Interest Factors, Fla. Stat. 61.13(3)(a) to (t)

  Twenty lettered factors govern the determination of all matters relating to parenting and time-sharing. The list is prefaced including, but not limited to, and factor (t) reaches any other relevant factor, so it is a minimum set rather than a closed one.

• Shared Parental Responsibility and Detriment, Fla. Stat. 61.13(2)(c)2. and 3.

  Shared parental responsibility is the default unless it would be detrimental to the child. Subparagraph 2. lists the evidence considered on detriment, including domestic violence, and subparagraph 3. creates a rebuttable presumption of detriment on certain convictions. The court considers evidence of domestic violence or child abuse whether or not there is a conviction or an injunction.

• Relocation, Fla. Stat. 61.13001(1)(e), (2) and (3)

  Relocation means a change in the location of a parent's principal residence of at least 50 miles, sustained for at least 60 consecutive days, excluding temporary absences for vacation, education, or the child's health care. It proceeds by signed written agreement, which may be ratified without a hearing unless a party requests one within 10 days of filing, or by sworn petition with seven prescribed contents and a 20-day objection window.

• Fifty-Mile Move as a Modification Ground, Fla. Stat. 61.13(3)

  Where the parents lived more than 50 miles apart at the time of the last order and one parent moves within 50 miles of the other, that move may be a substantial and material change in circumstances supporting modification. This is a separate provision from the relocation trigger and should not be treated as the same 50-mile rule.