Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody
When filing a petition for modification of a Florida parenting plan, a parent has to be careful to include all desired relief in his or her petition. This is because the court cannot grant relief that is not requested in the petition, as doing so would violate the due process rights of the other parent. This was an issue in the case Picard v. Picard, 2D21-3500 (Fla. 2d DCA December 21, 2022).
After a hearing on a petition for modification of a parenting plan, the trial court entered an order revising time-sharing and granting the father sole decision-making authority over the children’s extracurricular activities. The mother appealed, arguing the time-sharing modification was error; that the former husband did not request sole-decision making authority; and that the final judgment fails to attach the adopted parenting plan.
The appellate court affirmed the time-sharing modification without comment. However, it agreed with the mother that it was error to award sole decision-making authority to the father on extracurricular activities because he did not request it in his pleadings. Furthermore, the court held it was error for the trial court to fail to attach the parenting plan and to only reference it because the court made modifications to the referenced parenting plan, and therefore, “there is no single document the parties can look to that comprises the entire approved plan.” These issues were therefore reversed for the trial court to correct in its final judgment.
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