The Concept of Child Custody in Florida
Under Florida law, there is no such thing as "child custody". Instead, the parents have a "time-sharing" agreement on how much time each parent will have with the child.
Since Florida law does not recognize "child custody", the concepts of sole custody and joint custody are also not recognized. Instead, "sole custody" is known as "majority time-sharing" and "joint custody" is "equal time-sharing".
How is the Time-Sharing Agreement Decided?
When a couple files for divorce or a parent files a …show more content…
However, if the parents cannot come to an agreement, the courts can step in and create a time-sharing order that both parents must abide by.
A time-sharing agreement is often part of a larger parenting plan. The plan includes how the parents will handle day-to-day activities, who is responsible for health care decisions, who is responsible for education-related decisions, and how parents will communicate with the child, along with the exact time-sharing arrangement.
The courts are reluctant to order supervised visitation or no visitation, except for extreme circumstances. Some situations where either might be granted include when one parent has severe, untreated mental illness, a parent has an active drug or alcohol abuse problem, or a parent has abused or neglected a child.
How is Child Support Affected by the Time-Sharing Agreement?
For fathers in Pensacola, child custody issues directly affect child support payments. The more nights a child spends with a parent, the less child support will need to be paid to the other