Parental Responsibility & Child Custody
The laws of the Sunshine State recognize both “Shared,” and “Sole,” Parental Responsibility. The Ledezma Law Firm can help you understand the difference and to navigate through the court system which will legally establish which of these will be applied to your unique situation. Ultimately, it is this decision that will decide who has custody of children. The Ledezma Law Firm helps parents assert their rights in Parental Responsibility determinations.
In “Shared Parental Responsibility,” the court recognizes a relationship in which both parents legally retain their full parental rights—and their responsibilities. Parents are expected to confer with each other and jointly concur on major decisions that will affect the health, well-being, and welfare of the child.
This is the typical responsibility order from Florida courts, unless a determination is made that shared custody would be harmful to the child. Should one parent have evidence levied against them of child abuse or neglect, domestic violence, alcohol or drug abuse, their right to shared custody could be affected. This is true even if there was no criminal conviction or injunction for protection.
A court order granting one parent all decision-making authority regarding a minor child is called “Sole Parental Responsibility.” The parent makes all decisions with no input or opinion from the other parent. The court can order supervised time-sharing from the non-custodial parent, or no time-sharing at all.
At the Ledezma Law Firm, count on us to analyze and present all pertinent information regarding custody of children. We will help you receive a court order determining parental responsibility that is in the best interest of you and your child. Contact the Ledezma Law Firm for a free consultation regarding you and your unique situation.
Contact the Ledezma Law Firm today for Parental Responsibility and Child Custody assistance. Serving Broward and Palm Beach counties.
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Each of these 20 factors are looked at to determine the best time sharing schedule for the children
- 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 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, 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 facilitate and encourage a close and continuing parent-child relationship, to honor the time-sharing schedule, and to be reasonable when changes are required.
- The anticipated division of parental responsibilities after the litigation, including the extent to which parental responsibilities will be delegated to third parties.
- The 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.
- The length of time the child has lived in a stable, satisfactory environment and the desirability of maintaining continuity.
- The 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. This factor does not create a presumption for or against relocation of either parent with a child.
- Demonstrated capacity and disposition of each parent to participate and be involved in the child’s school and extracurricular activities.
- Demonstrated capacity of disposition of each parent to maintain an environment for the child which is free from substance abuse.
- The capacity and disposition of each parent to protect the child from 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.
- Any other factor that is relevant to the determination of a specific parenting plan, including the time-sharing schedule.
CLIENT TESTIMONIALS
