What Are “Best Interests” Factors in Child Custody Cases?

When you have minor children with a partner or spouse and your relationship is ending, you will need to prepare for a child custody case in Florida. Under Florida law, the language of “child custody” is not actually used any longer, but instead has been replaced with the language of parental responsibilities, time-sharing, and a parenting plan. Parental responsibilities refer to how the parents will share decision-making responsibilities concerning the child, such as the child’s education, health care, religious upbringing, and more. Time-sharing refers to the schedule the parents will use to share physical time with their children, during which time they will be responsible for the day-to-day responsibilities associated with their children. Both parental responsibilities and a time-sharing schedule become part of a document known as the parenting plan.

Ideally, the parents can work together to create a parenting plan that the court can then approve. If necessary, the court can establish parental responsibilities and a time-sharing schedule. Regardless of whether the parents are creating the parenting plan themselves or the court is making a determination, the terms of the parenting plan must be based on the best interests of the child. What are the “best interests” under Florida law? Our Port St. Lucie divorce and child custody lawyers can explain.

Best Interests of the Child Under the Florida Statutes

Whenever a parenting plan involving parental responsibility or a time-sharing schedule is being created, approved, or modified, the parenting plan must be in the best interests of the child. What is in the best interests of the child is determined by evaluating all of the relevant factors, which Section 61.13 of the Florida Statutes says can include but are not limited to:

• Demonstrated capacity and disposition of each parent to facilitate and encourage a close and continuing parent-child relationship, to honor the time-sharing schedule, and to be reasonable when changes are required;
• Anticipated division of parental responsibilities after the litigation, including the extent to which parental responsibilities will be delegated to third parties;
• Demonstrated capacity and disposition of each parent to determine, consider, and act upon the needs of the child as opposed to the needs or desires of the parent;
• Length of time the child has lived in a stable, satisfactory environment and the desirability of maintaining continuity;
• Geographic viability of the parenting plan, with special attention paid to the needs of school-age children and the amount of time to be spent traveling to effectuate the parenting plan;
• Moral fitness of the parents;
• Mental and physical health of the parents;
• Home, school, and community record of the child;
• Reasonable preference of the child, if the court deems the child to be of sufficient intelligence, understanding, and experience to express a preference;
• Demonstrated knowledge, capacity, and disposition of each parent to be informed of the circumstances of the minor child, including, but not limited to, the child’s friends, teachers, medical care providers, daily activities, and favorite things;
• Demonstrated capacity and disposition of each parent to provide a consistent routine for the child, such as discipline, and daily schedules for homework, meals, and bedtime;
• Demonstrated capacity of each parent to communicate with and keep the other parent informed of issues and activities regarding the minor child, and the willingness of each parent to adopt a unified front on all major issues when dealing with the child;
• Evidence of domestic violence, sexual violence, child abuse, child abandonment, or child neglect or evidence that a parent has or has had reasonable cause to believe that he or she or his or her minor child or children are in imminent danger of becoming victims of an act of domestic violence, regardless of whether a prior or pending action relating to those issues has been brought;
• Evidence that either parent has knowingly provided false information to the court regarding any prior or pending action regarding domestic violence, sexual violence, child abuse, child abandonment, or child neglect;
• Particular parenting tasks customarily performed by each parent and the division of parental responsibilities before the institution of litigation and during the pending litigation, including the extent to which parenting responsibilities were undertaken by third parties;
• Demonstrated capacity and disposition of each parent to participate and be involved in the child’s school and extracurricular activities;
• Demonstrated capacity and disposition of each parent to maintain an environment for the child which is free from substance abuse;
• Capacity and disposition of each parent to protect the child from the ongoing litigation as demonstrated by not discussing the litigation with the child, not sharing documents or electronic media related to the litigation with the child, and refraining from disparaging comments about the other parent to the child;
• Developmental stages and needs of the child and the demonstrated capacity and disposition of each parent to meet the child’s developmental needs; and
• Any other factor that is relevant to the determination of a specific parenting plan, including the time-sharing schedule.

Contact Our Port St. Lucie Family Law Attorneys for Assistance Today with Your Child Custody Case 

Whether you are going through a divorce and have minor children from your marriage, or you share minor children with a partner from whom you are separating, you will need to go through a formal and legal child custody case in Florida. While parents who can reach an agreement on issues pertaining to parenting and time-sharing can have their proposed parenting plan approved by the court, there are also cases in which the court may have to make a determination about custody based on what is in the best interests of the child or children. If you have questions, need assistance with your parenting plan, or otherwise require help with your child custody case in Florida, you should get in touch with one of the experienced Port St. Lucie child custody lawyers at Baginski Brandt & Brandt today. Contact us to learn more about the family law and child custody services we provide.

Source:

leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099/0061/Sections/0061.13.html