Winter Park Child Custody Attorney
Child Custody Lawyer Assisting Families in Winter Park
Dealing with a child custody case is often one of the most difficult experiences for everyone in a family. When parents get divorced or unmarried parents decide to separate, those parents typically will need to go through the child custody proceeding in Florida. It is important for anyone who is anticipating a child custody proceeding to know that, under Florida law, courts in Winter Park and throughout the state no longer use the terms “custody” and “visitation.” Similar to other states that have changed family law to reflect the flexible needs of all the parties involved in a child custody case and the importance of each parent being involved in the child’s life, Florida courts now consider parental responsibilities and “time-sharing.”
If you need assistance with your child custody case, you should get in touch with a Winter Park child custody attorney as soon as possible.
Parenting Plans for Time-Sharing in Winter Park
Parental responsibilities and time-sharing are outlined in a Parenting Plan.
In some situations, parents who are able to work together to agree to parental responsibilities and time-sharing can play a major role in developing a Parenting Plan to which the court can turn into a legal order. However, even in situations where the parents cannot agree, the court still requires the family to have a Parenting Plan in place, and the court will develop a Parenting Plan.
“Best Interests of the Child” Standard in Winter Park Custody Cases
When courts decide whether a Parenting Plan is appropriate, and when it determines how parents will share parental responsibilities, it uses the “best interests of the child” standard. In other words, while the court ultimately makes a child custody determination that it considers to be in the child’s best interests. In making this determination, the court can take into account many different factors, which may include but are not limited to:
- Each parent’s willingness to facilitate a continuing parent-child relationship;
- Each parent’s demonstrated capacity for considering the child’s needs over the needs or desires of the parent;
- Length of time child has lived in a stable and satisfactory environment;
- Geographic viability of the parenting plan;
- Each parent’s moral fitness;
- Mental health of the parents;
- Physical health of the parents;
- Child’s home, school, and community record;
- Reasonable preference of the child if the child is mature or old enough to express a preference;
- Each parent’s demonstrated capacity for providing for the child’s care-taking needs, such as disciplining the child, providing meals, helping the child with homework, and managing bedtime; and
- Each parent’s demonstrated capacity for communicating with the other parent about the child’s needs, issues, and activities.
Florida statutory law makes clear that it is the state’s public policy that “Each minor child has frequent and continuing contact with both parents after the parents separate or the marriage of the parties is dissolved, and to encourage parents to share the rights and responsibilities, and joy, of childrearing.”
Seek Advice from a Child Custody Lawyer in Winter Park
If you are going through a child custody case, you should have an experienced and dedicated Winter Park child custody attorney on your side. Contact The Troum Law Firm, P.A. to speak with an advocate at our firm today.
