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How to Modify Child Custody in Florida

Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Florida · Last updated October 7, 2026

Florida hands the countdown to the parent who stays. There is no advance notice a relocating parent must serve, so nothing is counted down before a move; instead the other parent gets 20 days to object once a petition to relocate has been served, and silence lets the move through. Modifying child custody in Florida means asking the circuit court that approved your existing order to change it because something significant has changed since then. Florida does not call it custody. Statute 61.13 deals in parental responsibility, the parenting plan, and the time-sharing schedule, and 61.13(2)(c) says modification of a parenting plan and time-sharing schedule requires a showing of a substantial and material change of circumstances, plus a finding that the change is in the child's best interests. Two details in the current text defeat older summaries. The word unanticipated appears nowhere in 61.13, and the section now carries a rebuttable presumption that equal time-sharing serves the child, rebuttable only by a preponderance of the evidence. Florida sets no clock on filing: a scan of all 103 sections of chapter 61 against eighteen waiting-period phrasings found no provision that delays a modification petition, and 61.13(2)(d) grants the power to modify with no elapsed-time condition. Your charging document is Form 12.905(a), the Supplemental Petition to Modify Parental Responsibility, Visitation or Parenting Plan/Time-Sharing Schedule and Other Relief. One Florida rule runs against the grain: a parent moving closer can itself be the change. Attorney review of your filing is available through DocDraft.

Find out where you stand in Florida

What is prompting the change to your custody order?

DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.

What must a parent prove to change a Florida parenting plan?

Florida Statute 61.13(3) says 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. The word unanticipated is not in the statute.

Does Florida make a parent wait before petitioning to modify time-sharing?

No. Nothing in chapter 61 delays a modification petition, and 61.13(2)(d) grants the circuit court power to modify a parenting plan with no elapsed-time condition. The gate is substantive proof of a substantial and material change, not time since the last order.

What happens after a Florida petition to relocate is served?

The served parent has 20 days to file a written objection and serve it on the parent seeking to move. Under 61.13001(3)(d), failure to object means relocation is presumed to be in the child's best interest and the court may allow it without an evidentiary hearing.

Which Florida court hears a petition to modify a time-sharing schedule?

A circuit court. Statute 61.13(2)(d) gives a choice: the circuit court in the county where either parent and the child reside, or the circuit court that entered the original order creating the parenting plan. Venue may then be changed under Florida Statute 47.122.

Florida time-sharing modification at a glance

Changing child custody in Florida means asking the circuit court that approved your existing order to change it because something significant has changed since then. Florida's statutory words are parental responsibility, parenting plan, and time-sharing schedule. Two levers set Florida apart. There is no waiting period at all, verified by scanning all 103 sections of chapter 61 against eighteen waiting-period phrasings and finding nothing that delays a petition. And relocation carries no advance notice duty: the relocating parent files a petition, after which the other parent has 20 days to object, with silence allowing the move. Florida also runs the relocation calendar fast rather than slow. Under 61.13001(10) a temporary relocation motion must be heard within 30 days and a nonjury trial held within 90 days of the notice to set.

A Florida order where the other parent moves closer

Imagine your Florida order was entered while you lived in Jacksonville and the other parent lived about 70 miles away, so the plan gave that parent long alternating weekends with heavy driving. The other parent now takes a job in Orange Park, 12 miles from you. Under 61.13(3), because the parents were residing greater than 50 miles apart when the last time-sharing order was entered and one has moved within 50 miles of the other, that move may be considered a substantial and material change in circumstances. You file Form 12.905(a) in the circuit court, propose a midweek schedule the short drive now makes workable, and ask for the best-interests finding the statute also requires. Attorney review of your filing is available through DocDraft.

Relevant Laws

Fla. Stat. 61.13 (modification standard, equal time-sharing, moving closer)

Requires a substantial and material change in circumstances plus a best-interests determination, carries the rebuttable equal time-sharing presumption, lists the best-interest factors including the child's reasonable preference, and names the circuit courts that may modify a parenting plan.

Fla. Stat. 61.13001 (parental relocation with a child)

Defines relocation as a move of at least 50 miles for at least 60 consecutive days, sets out the agreement and petition routes, prints the 20 day objection warning, allocates the burden of proof, and gives relocation pleadings calendar priority.

Fla. Stat. 61.522 (information to be submitted to the court)

Requires each party, in its first pleading or an attached affidavit, to give sworn information about the child's present whereabouts, five years of prior residences, and other proceedings, and lets the court stay the case until that information is furnished.

Fla. Stat. 28.241 (filing fees for trial proceedings)

Caps the circuit court reopen fee the clerk may set at $50 and caps a chapter 61 filing fee at up to $295. The statute fixes ceilings rather than a single statewide custody modification figure.

Florida Courts Form 12.905(a), Supplemental Petition to Modify

The state courts page for the Supplemental Petition to Modify Parental Responsibility, Visitation or Parenting Plan/Time-Sharing Schedule and Other Relief, revision date 11/2015, with the PDF and editable versions of the form and its instructions.

Regional Variances

Florida time-sharing modification levers at a glance

Waiting period before you may file

None. A scan of the full text of chapter 61, all 103 sections, against eighteen waiting-period phrasings found no provision delaying a modification petition. Statute 61.13(2)(d) grants the modification power with no elapsed-time condition. Because there is no bar, there is no endangerment escape hatch to clear either.

Standard to change an existing order

Statutory, in 61.13(2)(c) and 61.13(3): a substantial and material change in circumstances plus a determination that the change is in the child's best interests, weighed against the factors in 61.13(3). The word unanticipated appears nowhere in the section's current text.

Relocation advance notice

None. Florida sets no day count a parent must serve before moving. The four day figures in 61.13001 are a 10 day hearing request on an agreement, the 20 day objection deadline, and the 30 and 90 day calendar-priority limits. The 60 days is a duration element, not notice.

Relocation trigger and objection

At least 50 miles and at least 60 consecutive days, both required, measured from the residence at the last time-sharing order. Then 20 days to object after service of the petition. An objection must be verified and state the objector's involvement in the child's life.

Moving closer

A Florida-specific trigger in 61.13(3). Where the parents were residing greater than 50 miles apart when the last time-sharing order was entered and one parent moves within 50 miles of the other, that move may be considered a substantial and material change in circumstances.

Court

Circuit court, with a genuine venue choice under 61.13(2)(d): the circuit where either parent and the child reside, or the circuit that entered the original order approving or creating the parenting plan. Venue may be changed under Florida Statute 47.122.

Forms

Form 12.905(a) Supplemental Petition to Modify Parental Responsibility, Visitation or Parenting Plan/Time-Sharing Schedule and Other Relief; Form 12.903(e) Answer to Supplemental Petition; Form 12.950(d) Supplemental Petition to Permit Relocation; Form 12.950(a) and 12.950(b) for relocation by agreement; Form 12.995(c) relocation parenting plan.

Filing fee

No single statewide amount. Statute 28.241(1)(b) caps the circuit court reopen fee at $50 and says the clerk sets it; 28.241(1)(a)1.b caps a chapter 61 filing fee at up to $295. Civil indigent status is determined by the clerk under 57.082.

Procedural screen

No adequate-cause screen; that phrase returns zero hits across chapter 61. Mediation is permissive, because 61.183(1) says the court may refer contested parenting issues. What is mandatory is the sworn child-residence disclosure under 61.522(1), enforceable by a stay.

Child's wishes

No statutory age. Factor 61.13(3)(i) is the reasonable preference of the child if the court deems the child to be of sufficient intelligence, understanding, and experience to express a preference. A capacity test, weighed with every other best-interest factor.

Suggested Compliance Checklist

Date the substantial and material change

Before you file days after starting

Collect dated records of what changed since the circuit court approved your current parenting plan: school letters, work rosters, medical notes, messages. Florida puts no clock on filing, so the petition rises or falls entirely on the proof of a substantial and material change.

Measure the move against 50 miles and 60 days

Before any move is planned days after starting

Statute 61.13001(1)(e) requires both a change of principal residence of at least 50 miles and a stay of at least 60 consecutive days. Measure from the residence at the last time-sharing order. Also read your own order, because pre October 2009 relocation terms can control.

Try the written relocation agreement first

Before filing a contested petition days after starting

Under 61.13001(2) a signed agreement reflecting consent, defining a time-sharing schedule, and describing transportation can be ratified without an evidentiary hearing unless a party requests one in writing within 10 days of filing. Forms 12.950(a) and 12.950(b) cover this route.

Complete the supplemental petition

As soon as your evidence is assembled days after starting

Use Form 12.905(a) to change parental responsibility or the time-sharing schedule, or Form 12.950(d) to ask permission to relocate. A relocation petition must be sworn and must carry the all capitals 20 day objection warning the statute prescribes word for word.

Attach the sworn child-residence information

With your first pleading days after starting

Statute 61.522(1) requires sworn information on the child's present whereabouts, every residence over the past five years, who the child lived with, and any other proceeding affecting the child. Under 61.522(2) the court may stay your case until it is furnished.

File with the circuit clerk and serve

Promptly after signing days after starting

File in the circuit where either parent and the child reside or the circuit that entered the original order, pay the clerk's fee within the 28.241 caps, and serve the other parent and everyone else entitled to time-sharing. Relocating without complying invites contempt.

Calendar the 20 day objection window

Within 20 days of being served days after starting

If you are the parent opposing a move, file a verified written objection within 20 days of service, state the specific factual basis, and describe your involvement in the child's life. Miss it and 61.13001(3)(d) lets the court allow the move without a hearing.

Frequently Asked Questions

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