ORLANDO VISITATION LAWYERS
"VISITATION" IS NO LONGER USED
As stated in the
Custody section, the terminology of "Visitation" is no longer used in
Florida. Since most people are still familiar with that phrase, it will
be used throughout this website along with the new terminology. Now, the
Court orders a Time-Sharing Schedule which delineates the time each parent
will spend with the minor children. Typically, the Judge will want to
maximize the children's time spent with each parent and minimize the
time spend with a child care provider. Depending upon the work schedule
and availability of each parent, the Judge will tailor a schedule which,
above all, is in the best interests of the minor children.
TIME-SHARING SCHEDULE
Unless the parties can agree outside of Court, the Judge will Order a Time-Sharing
Schedule which he or she determines is in the best interests of the minor
children. As the factors set forth in Florida Statutes 61.13 are considered,
the Time-Sharing Schedule will be ordered which allows the most time possible
for each parent as opposed to a child care provider. Talk with your
Orlando Visitation Lawyer at
Marsh Family Law to discuss your options when tailoring a Time-Sharing Schedule with your
spouse. Of course, the best method of obtaining a favorable schedule is
to mediate reasonably with your spouse. When that is not possible, the
lawyers at Marsh Family Law have over
31 years of litigation
experience to best protect your interests if your case goes to trial.
DOES THE JUDGE ORDER 50/50 CUSTODY NOW?
Since the change in the Florida Statute occurred in October, 2008, many
people now assume that the Judge MUST order 50/50 custody of the minor
children (also known as "rotating custody") This is false. The
Court must specifically consider what is in the best interests of the
minor children as well as the factors set forth in Florida Statute 61.13.
There is no presumption for or against rotating custody in Florida and,
in fact, the Courts have specifically held that the change in the Florida
Statute does NOT mean that rotating custody must be ordered. It is important
to note that a Senate Bill is currently under consideration to mandate
50/50 Time-Sharing which just passed the Senate Rules Committee by a vote
of 12-2. The full text of this dramatic change in the law can be found
here. See our recent
blog post on this topic.
Talk to your
Orlando Visitation Lawyer at
Marsh Family Law to further discuss the options available to the Court when establishing
a Time-Sharing Schedule in your case and whether the proposed Legislation
may affect you and your children.
SCHOOL HOLIDAYS AND SUMMER VACATION
All school and legal holidays, including teacher work-days should be included
in a well-written Time-Sharing Schedule. There are several ways to divide
school holidays, including alternating the entire holiday or dividing
the holiday in half. It is more common to divide holidays like Christmas
and summer vacation. The actual division of these time periods are left
to the parties to decide and a Judge will intervene only when the parties
fail to reach an
Agreement. Your attorney at
Marsh Family Law will ensure that all the possible contact provisions are included in your
Time-Sharing Schedule including those most often overlooked such as teacher
work days, three day holidays and similar school vacation periods.