A parenting plan, also known as a timesharing plan in Florida, clarifies the schedule that you and your coparent will follow so that parents and children feel secure in a consistent, reliable routine. You may be referring to these plans as a custody agreement, a child custody agreement, a parenting schedule, a visitation schedule, a coparenting agreement, or a parenting agreement.
You can review the relevant Florida Statute here, which provides the following:
It is the public policy of this state that each minor child has frequent and continuing contact with both parents after the parents separate or the marriage of the parties is dissolved and to encourage parents to share the rights and responsibilities, and joys, of childrearing. Unless otherwise provided in this section or agreed to by the parties, there is a rebuttable presumption that equal time-sharing of a minor child is in the best interests of the minor child [emphasis supplied]. To rebut this presumption, a party must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that equal time-sharing is not in the best interests of the minor child.
As you can see in the language above, Florida made 50-50 timesharing presumptive in July 2023 because every child has a right to both parents. You might be calling this type of timesharing by different terms such as “joint custody,” “shared custody,” or “split custody.”
There are different ways to make a 50-50 arrangement work for your family’s schedule, and there are other ways of handling timesharing when 50-50 just isn’t possible.
Not every plan fits every kid.
Not every plan fits every parent.
A plan with a perfect fit may eventually need “resizing.”
Below, DADvocacy has provides the basic types of plans, but the types listed below are not exhaustive.
Consider the needs of your child first. For example, can your child tolerate a long drive (“long” in the child’s mind, not yours) more than twice a week? Your child’s welfare must come first, which means transition from your home to the coparent’s home must be smooth and must consider the realities of transportation to and from the coparents’ homes.
Are you asking for custody time that will mostly be wasted in driving time and in the child’s recuperation time from the drive? Be strategic in what you ask for, as timesharing does not benefit you if you need to secure a babysitter because of your work or school schedule. Always prioritize the quality of the time spent with your child, not the quantity.
Ensure that your plan details how communication between you and the child will occur when the child stays with the coparent. This communication is essential to maintain your bond with the child when you are not physically present with each other. That is why all of our plans provide for in-person timesharing and electronic timesharing.
DADvocacy has a list of conversation starters that are age appropriate. These ideas can help both the child and the parent adjust to “talk time” that occurs in the coparent’s home.
If you have a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement that includes provisions for child support or timesharing, those provisions are likely invalid – except those terms that comply with the numbers that Florida has calculated for child support.
Consider what your time without your child will look like. It’s okay to leave room for yourself to start a business, to get a side job, to start school, and to travel without your children. Your child can only benefit from your happiness and continued growth.
Here’s another angle on your time without your child relative to the holidays: It’s rough to set yourself up for a holiday visitation plan that has you locked on the child’s schedule…whether or not you have the child. Make your plan centered on quality, not quantity, and ensure that quality applies as much to you as to the child.
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