Child Custody

WHAT IS CUSTODY?

 We understand that your children are the most important people in your life.  You would do anything for your children.  Not knowing what is going to happen after a separation is terrifying.  Many couples can successfully co-parent.  But there are many more where parents have to make an impossible decision: stay in the marriage to protect the children or risk having them spend substantial time with a problematic parent.  

A recent study found that many domestic violence victims are afraid of reporting abuse out of fear of being accused of “alienating” the abuser from their children.  

Family dynamics are complicated.  In many intact families, we accept that a child or children may have a close relationship with one parent but not the other. Once the family unit breaks apart, this understanding evaporates.  When a judge is suddenly looking at the roles of both parents, absentee parents claim they are going to step-up.  

Parents are expected to put aside all of their feelings toward the other parent and act as if their emotional history never existed.   A parent who does the right thing often has to co-parent with someone who does all of the wrong things.  

We are familiar with all of these concerns. We also know you may have been told by other firms that you just have to “deal with it”. Custody cases are our specialty.  We have devoted our practice to helping parents succeed in high-conflict cases when other law firms were unable to come up with helpful solutions. 

WHAT IS PHYSICAL CUSTODY?

“Physical custody” was born in the last generation where a child truly lived 80% of the time (or more) with one parent, so we would casually say that “the mom has custody.” That parenting arrangement has fallen into disfavor for a number of reasons. Psychological professionals tell us that all children benefit from frequent and continuing contact with both parents, and the younger they are, the more important frequent contact is. Additionally, in today’s society, mothers are more frequently in the workforce, so parents are more likely to both contribute to home as well as work duties.  The construct of the mother as the primary (or sole) caretaker of the children during the marriage has become outdated. In fact,  as of July 1, 2023, all judges in Florida must presume that both parents share time equally with their children.  That presumption can still be rebutted, as courts do consider the specific facts of every family’s circumstances in crafting  time-sharing schedule, called a Parenting Plan (click here for more information)  which fits each family’s specific needs. 

WHAT IS LEGAL CUSTODY?

“Legal custody” is what Florida calls Shared Parental Responsibility, and it covers making decisions for the children in three major areas:  education, health care, and religion.  These major decisions are shared between the parties (which means they must confer and agree upon them).  Shared Parental Responsibility is appropriate 99% of the time.  Sole Parental Responsibility is very rare, and justified only in cases where one parent is completely disinterested or out of the picture (think prison), has exhibited a pattern of making detrimental decisions for the child, or is incapable of making reasonable decisions for the child due to, for example, mental illness or substance abuse. A middle ground is Shared Parental Responsibility with one parent having Ultimate Decision-Making Authority, essentially a trump card to veto the other parent if they cannot agree. For more information about different available time-sharing schedules and options regarding  all types of Parental Responsibility, contact Sasso, Guerrero & Henderlite today for a consult.