Miami family law attorney blog
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Child Custody
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody
A parent’s right to make decisions affecting the welfare of a child is considered to be so important in Florida family law that there is a presumption that equal decision-making authority for both parents is in the best interest of the child. This is called shared parental responsibility. However, under certain circumstances, a Florida family court will award sole decision-making authority to one parent.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody
Many parties to Florida child custody cases want to know, “Can I have the other parent undergo a psychological evaluation?” The answer to this question is the classic lawyer response: It depends. Florida law relies on a two-part analysis to determine if such an evaluation is warranted: (1) The examination must be related to a matter in controversy and (2) the party requesting the exam must show good cause exists for it.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody
During the holidays, some parents unfortunately find themselves in the middle of nasty child custody issues which derail even court ordered timesharing. Here’s what you may want to consider if you are one of these parents.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody
Life is constantly moving and changing. So it is no surprise that parties find the need to modify their Florida parenting plan after it is entered. In order to modify a parenting plan in Florida, a party seeking to do so must show that there has been a substantial change in circumstances which was not contemplated at the time of the final judgment. While this standard may appear clear cut, there is sometimes confusion in what constitutes a substantial change as shown in the recent case Puhl v. Puhl, 4D18-365 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018).
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody
Relocation cases are among the most difficult cases to decide because the decision will affect one parent’s usual access to a child. In the recent appellate case Chalmers v. Chalmers, 4D18-2246 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018), the mother appealed the court’s decision to grant the father’s petition for relocation.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody
Getting a passport for a minor child when you are no longer married to or are not in a relationship with the other parent is a concern many parents have in Florida child custody cases. Depending on who is listed on the child’s birth certificate, you may be able to get a passport issued without the other parent’s participation.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody
With the holiday season in full swing, child custody cases in Florida may become more active. This is because custody issues seem to spike during holidays. To avoid these issues, here are some tips on successful holiday co-parenting.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody
Are 50-50 timesharing schedules standard in Florida? Chapter 61 of the Florida Statutes does not contain a presumption that equal timesharing is in the best interest of a child. Timesharing is determined based on many factors such as the child’s routine, the parents’ work schedules, whether or not third party caretakers will be involved in the care of the child, and many more factors. When the parties agree to a 50-50 timesharing schedule, is the court required to find it is in the best interest of a child before ratifying the agreement by court order?
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody
When two parents live in different states, a Florida parenting plan must take into account how the parties will handle travel in order to effectuate timesharing. Additionally, the parenting plan will specify how parties are able to travel within the United States and to foreign countries. In a recent appellate case R.B. v. B.T., 2D17-2587 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018), the father appealed an order that restricted his timesharing to only two locations, effectively denying him the right to travel outside of the country or to non-specified states with the parties’ child.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody
When drug abuse is an issue in a Florida child custody case, the court may take certain measures to protect a child’s best interest. These measures include drug testing and restrictions on time-sharing, among others. In the recent appellate case Ryan v. Ryan, 3D18-1420 (Fla. 3d DCA 2018), the court considered a mother’s appeal of an order placing such restrictions on her timesharing.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody
Do you need a guardian ad litem in your Florida child custody case? Guardians are appointed in many high conflict family law cases, including those where there are allegations of abuse, neglect or abandonment of a child.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody
One appellate case decided earlier this year shows how the waters of Florida relocation cases can get “muddied” and are not always straight-forward. In Gimonge v. Gimonge, 5D17-2747 (Fla. 5th DCA 2018), the disagreement as to relocation resulted from the parties temporary agreement entered after a petition for dissolution of marriage was filed.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody
When a parent fails to follow a parenting plan, is found in contempt and still fails to follow the plan, what is a court to do? One appellate case talks about what a court is not allowed to do when sanctioning the non-compliant parent.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody
Third parties who serve as parental figures in Florida usually provide love, support and comfort for children who are in their care. This is why it is difficult when a biological parent objects to a third party’s custody of a child - what do you do when a child has grown up with a third party but a biological parent wants custody of the child? Such was the case in Morris v. Morris, 1D16-4695 (Fla. 1st DCA 2018) decided in the spring of this year.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody
When a child is seeing a therapist and a Florida child custody case is pending, a question arises as to whether or not the therapist can be compelled to testify regarding the child’s statements to the therapist. In the case Garcia v. Guiles, 1D17-5125 (Fla. 1st DCA 2018), an order allowing the a child’s treating psychotherapist was appealed, and the appellate court discussed the standard for reviewing whether or not the order was appropriate.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody
When a final judgment is incomplete, it is not error for a court to supplement it to include omitted provisions. This was the holding in the recent case Swearingen v. Swearingen, 1D17-5011 (Fla. 1st DCA 2018) in which the mother appealed the trial court’s decision to supplement the final judgment with a complete parenting plan.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody
In Ness v. Martinez, 1D17-2742 (Fla. 1st DCA 2018), a myriad of issues were appealed arising from a denied petition for relocation. Among those issues was the mother's objection to the trial court adopting the father's counsel's proposed final judgment. It is common practice for a judge to request that attorneys submit proposed final judgments after presentation of the evidence.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody
Out-of-state orders concerning child custody are usually fully honored in Florida's family law courts. Florida courts are required to give full faith and credit to orders entered in other states unless those orders go against the public policy of Florida or are otherwise illegal. In the case Smith v. Daniel, 1D17-4240 (Fla. 1st DCA 2018), the appellate court reviewed a trial court's decision to not honor a Kentucky order preventing the father from having any contact with his child.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody
Supervised visitation is awarded in Florida child custody cases if it is in the best interest of the children to shield them from certain harm which might come from unsupervised timesharing. The most common example is situations involving domestic violence. If a child has witnessed a parent committing domestic violence, or the child has herself been the victim of abuse at the hands of a parent, supervised visits may be appropriate. However, supervised visits usually cannot be permanent as explored in the case Solomon v. Solomon, 3D17-1553 (Fla 3d DCA 2018).
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody
An often employed rule in Florida child custody cases is that a court cannot engage in guessing when it comes to the future best interest of a child. That is, a court generally cannot rule on a major change that will take place in a child's life before that change happens. This rule has been applied in different ways with different results in some Florida appellate cases. One recent case examines how this rule is applied to orders concerning where a child will live once the child starts kindergarten.
