Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce
How does a domestic violence conviction affect shared parental responsibility in Florida? According to Florida law, “A conviction of a misdemeanor of the first degree or higher involving domestic violence creates a rebuttable presumption that shared parental responsibility is detrimental to the child.” § 61.13(2)(c)3.a., Fla. Stat. (2024). This was an issue in the case Wallace v. Wallace, 4D2024-0441 (Fla. 4th DCA July 23, 2025).
The parties were married for approximately nine years and had two children together. The former husband was convicted of domestic battery against the former wife and was sentenced to jail during the pendency of the divorce proceedings. The parties stipulated at trial that the former husband had been convicted of domestic battery against the wife. After the trial, there was a delay in having the final judgment entered. Once it was entered months later, the former wife found that the trial court had adopted verbatim the former husband’s proposed final judgment, which contained several inconsistencies or unsupported findings as to child support, child custody, equitable distribution, alimony, and attorney’s fees, and failed to make any mention of the domestic battery even though it was thoroughly discussed at trial. The former wife appealed.
The appellate court spent a significant part of the opinion discussing the award of shared parental responsibility without consideration of the domestic battery conviction. The court reversed the parenting plan in its entirety, holding “In the present case, Former Husband was convicted of domestic violence battery against Former Wife pursuant to section 784.03(1), Florida Statutes (2021). Not only was Former Husband’s domestic violence history discussed multiple times throughout the trial, but the parties also stipulated that Former Husband was convicted of domestic battery against Former Wife. The final judgment, however, is devoid of any suggestion that the trial court had considered Former Husband’s domestic violence history, or the rebuttable presumption of detriment to the children, in making its parental responsibility and timesharing determinations. This was error.”
Also significant in the opinion was the award of alimony to the former husband which was based on an assumption that he could not work full-time, and which contradicted the need stated in his financial affidavits. The former husband testified that he was fired from his employment after his domestic violence conviction and had difficulty finding employment because of it. However, there was evidence that he quit subsequent jobs and there was no evidence he could not work full-time. The alimony was therefore reversed for reconsideration by the trial court.
The opinion goes on to list several other errors in the equitable distribution, attorney’s fees, and other miscellaneous matters. The case was remanded with a bullet-point listing of what was to be corrected or reviewed by the trial court. Schedule your consultation with a Miami family law attorney to understand how the law may apply to your case.