Florida Child Custody and Time-Sharing: Rules, Plans, and Relocation

Florida child custody and time-sharing begins with a legal presumption that equal time between both parents serves the child’s best interest, and every case ends with a written parenting plan that spells out the schedule, decision-making authority, transportation, and communication rules for both households. The state retired the terms “custody” and “visitation” years ago. What matters now is the parenting plan the parents agree to, or the one a judge imposes after weighing a detailed set of best-interest factors.¹

The Equal Time-Sharing Presumption

Before July 2023, Florida law was explicitly neutral: no presumption for or against any specific schedule. House Bill 1301 changed that by adding a rebuttable presumption that equal time-sharing is in the best interest of every minor child.² A judge now starts with the working assumption that each parent should get roughly the same number of overnights. A parent who wants a different split has to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that equal time would not serve the child.

The presumption is rebuttable, not absolute. Credible evidence of domestic violence, substance abuse, a mental health condition that affects parenting, or any of the other statutory factors can push a judge toward an unequal schedule. The presumption also steps aside when both parents agree to a different arrangement and the court approves it.¹

Parents often underestimate the shift. Under the old framework, a parent seeking majority time could argue the child was already living primarily with them. Now the other parent walks in on equal footing by default. If you want more than half the overnights, come prepared to show specifically why equal time would be detrimental, with evidence a judge can measure against the statute.

Best Interest Factors a Judge Weighs

When parents cannot agree, the judge works through the factors in Section 61.13(3). No single factor controls; the court weighs them together. A few categories tend to carry most contested cases.

Parenting Behavior and Cooperation

The first factor asks whether each parent has shown the ability to encourage the child’s relationship with the other parent, honor the existing schedule, and stay flexible when things shift.¹ Judges notice gatekeeping fast: disparaging the other parent in front of the child, interfering with phone calls, inventing scheduling conflicts. A parent who undercuts the child’s bond with the other parent tends to lose credibility quickly.

The court also looks at whether each parent puts the child’s needs ahead of their own, how parental responsibilities will actually be divided after the case ends, and whether either parent routinely hands caregiving off to third parties.³

Stability, Health, and Environment

How long the child has lived in a stable, satisfactory environment matters, particularly when one parent proposes uprooting them from an established school and neighborhood. The judge examines the child’s school and community record, how workable each proposed schedule is geographically, and the travel time involved for a school-age child.¹

Each parent’s mental and physical health is on the list, but only to the extent it affects caregiving ability. Moral fitness is listed too; Florida courts generally focus on conduct that directly affects the child rather than personal lifestyle choices. If the child is old enough and mature enough, the judge may consider the child’s stated preference, though preference alone will not decide the case.¹

Safety Concerns

Evidence of domestic violence, sexual violence, child abuse, abandonment, or neglect can reshape the analysis entirely. If a parent has reasonable cause to believe the child faces imminent danger from the other parent, the court treats that as a factor warranting restricted or supervised time.¹ A documented history of violence or a credible threat of harm can overcome the equal time-sharing presumption on its own.

Other factors in the statute include each parent’s knowledge of the child’s daily life, friends, and teachers; ability to keep a consistent routine; capacity to communicate with the other parent and share information; any history of substance abuse; the child’s developmental needs; the child’s relationship with siblings; and any workable arrangements the parents have already made for time-sharing.

What Belongs in the Parenting Plan

Every Florida custody case produces a parenting plan, either agreed to by both parents or imposed by the court. The plan is the operating manual for raising the child across two households, and it has to cover several mandatory areas.

The time-sharing schedule accounts for every night of the year: the weekly routine, weekend rotation, and specific assignments for major holidays, school breaks, and summer. Most plans alternate holidays yearly so Thanksgiving, winter break, and similar occasions rotate between parents. The schedule has to be detailed enough that either parent can look at any date and know where the child sleeps.

Transportation arrangements are a required element of Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.995(a), the standard parenting plan template.⁴ The plan identifies exchange locations and names the parent responsible for pickup and drop-off. It also sets protocols for communication between the parents and between the child and the parent who does not have the child at a given moment.

Healthcare and education decisions must be addressed. The plan names the child’s current school and primary physician, assigns responsibility for making medical and school decisions, and determines who pays for extracurricular activities. If there is a history of substance abuse, neglect, or domestic violence, the plan can include supervised exchanges, drug testing, or restrictions on out-of-state travel.

Florida has a separate statute governing electronic communication between parent and child. Under Section 61.13003, a court can order video calls, phone calls, or other electronic contact as part of the plan, and the statute creates a rebuttable presumption that telephone communication between parent and child is in the child’s best interest.⁵ Electronic communication supplements face-to-face time; it does not replace it. If a parent needs to buy equipment or pay for internet access to make virtual visits work, the court can split those costs based on each parent’s finances. Both parents have to share current contact information and update each other within seven days of any change.

How a Case Moves from Filing to Final Order

The process starts when one parent files a petition and proposed parenting plan with the Clerk of the Circuit Court. Filing fees in Florida family cases generally run around $300 to $400, depending on whether the petition stands alone or is part of a divorce. Parents who cannot afford the fee can apply for a civil indigent status determination; eligibility is based on household income at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, and the clerk evaluates assets and debts as part of the application.⁶

After filing, the other parent must be formally served with the petition. The served parent then has 20 days to file a written response.⁷ Missing that deadline does not automatically produce a default judgment, but it puts the non-responding parent at a serious procedural disadvantage.

When parents disagree, the court often orders mediation before scheduling a trial.⁸ A neutral mediator helps the parents negotiate a compromise without a judge deciding for them. If they reach agreement, the mediator prepares a consent order for the court’s approval. If mediation fails, the case proceeds to a final hearing where the judge evaluates evidence, hears testimony, and issues a time-sharing order based on the best-interest factors.

Moving With the Child: The 50-Mile Rule

This is one of the biggest traps in Florida family law. A parent who moves the child’s primary residence more than 50 miles from where it was at the time of the last custody order, for 60 or more consecutive days, triggers Florida’s relocation statute and must get either the other parent’s written consent or the court’s permission before moving.⁹ Temporary absences for vacation, education, or healthcare do not count toward the 60 days.

If both parents agree, they sign a written agreement that reflects the consent, defines a new time-sharing schedule for the non-relocating parent, and describes any new transportation arrangements. That agreement gets filed with the court and entered as a modified order.

Without agreement, the relocating parent must file a petition that includes the new address, intended move date, specific reasons for the move (with supporting documentation like a written job offer), and a proposed revised schedule. The other parent has 20 days to file a written objection. Failing to object in time creates a presumption that the relocation is in the child’s best interest, and the court can approve the move without a hearing.⁹

Consequences for skipping the process are severe. A parent who relocates without following the statute can be held in contempt, ordered to return the child, and penalized in any future modification proceeding. Courts treat unauthorized relocation as strong evidence against the relocating parent’s judgment and willingness to cooperate.

Changing an Order After It Is Final

A time-sharing order is not permanent. Either parent can petition to change it, but the court will not revise the schedule for minor shifts. The requesting parent has to show a substantial and material change in circumstances and prove that the proposed modification serves the child’s best interest.³

The 2023 law made one notable change to this standard: it removed the longstanding requirement that the change in circumstances be “unanticipated” at the time of the original order.² Under the old rule, if both parents knew at the time of the original order that one might eventually take a job in another city, that anticipated change could not support a modification. Now only substantiality and materiality matter. The same law added a specific provision: if parents lived more than 50 miles apart when the last order was entered and one later moves within 50 miles of the other, that move alone can qualify as a substantial change.

Common examples courts have treated as substantial include a parent’s serious new health condition, a child’s changing developmental or educational needs, repeated violations of the existing schedule, or a significant change in a parent’s work schedule that makes the current plan unworkable. Once the threshold is met, the judge applies the same best-interest factors used in the original case to design the revised schedule.

Emergency Orders

When a child faces immediate danger, Florida courts can act on an emergency basis without waiting on the normal timeline. Under Section 61.517, a Florida court has temporary emergency jurisdiction when a child is present in the state and has been abandoned or faces mistreatment or abuse.¹⁰

A parent requesting an emergency order has to present specific facts showing imminent danger, not general concerns. Police reports, medical records, photographs of injuries, and statements from counselors carry weight. The temporary order remains in effect until a permanent order is obtained from the court with proper jurisdiction, or the emergency period expires. If no custody case is pending in another state and Florida becomes the child’s home state, the emergency order can become permanent.

If Parents Live in Different States

When parents are in different states, the first question is which state has authority to decide custody. Florida adopted the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. Under Section 61.514, a Florida court can make an initial custody determination only if Florida is the child’s “home state,” meaning the child lived in Florida with a parent for at least six consecutive months immediately before the case was filed.¹¹

Florida also keeps home-state jurisdiction if the child lived here within the six months before filing and has since left, as long as one parent still lives in the state. Other states can step in only when no home state exists or the home state declines to act. Once a Florida court issues a custody order, that order generally remains enforceable and modifiable only in Florida as long as at least one parent or the child continues to live here. A parent who files a competing petition in another state to escape an unfavorable Florida order will find that state required to defer.

Protections for Military Parents

Military deployment creates its own set of rules. Federal law under 50 U.S.C. § 3938 prohibits any court from treating a servicemember’s absence due to deployment, or the possibility of deployment, as the sole factor in a best-interest decision.¹² A temporary custody change based solely on deployment must expire no later than the period justified by the deployment.

Florida adds state-level protection through its adoption of the Uniform Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act. Under Section 61.733, a court may not issue a permanent order granting custody to someone other than the deploying parent without that parent’s consent.¹³ Where federal and state protections overlap, the court applies whichever standard gives the deploying parent stronger rights.

For federal purposes, “deployment” means a move for more than 60 days but no more than 540 days under orders designated as unaccompanied or that do not authorize dependent travel. A deploying parent should arrange temporary time-sharing with a trusted family member before leaving and confirm the existing plan addresses how the schedule operates during and after the deployment.

Claiming the Child on Taxes

The parent who has the child for the greater number of nights during the tax year is generally the custodial parent for federal tax purposes and has the default right to claim the child tax credit. For the 2025 tax year, that credit is worth up to $2,200 per qualifying child under 17, with up to $1,700 refundable as the additional child tax credit for lower-income filers. The full credit phases out for single filers earning above $200,000 and joint filers above $400,000.¹⁴

Parents can agree to let the noncustodial parent claim the credit by using IRS Form 8332, which the custodial parent signs to release the claim for a specific year or for all future years.¹⁵ The noncustodial parent attaches the signed form to their return. A custodial parent who previously signed a release can revoke it, but the revocation takes effect no earlier than the tax year after the other parent is notified.

Many parenting plans handle this directly by alternating the credit in odd and even years or assigning it permanently to one parent as part of the broader financial arrangement. Putting it in the plan heads off annual disputes and gives both parents something to point to at tax time. A family court order alone does not override IRS rules, so Form 8332 is essential whenever the noncustodial parent claims the credit.

1
Florida Senate. Florida Code 61.13 – Support of Children; Parenting and Time-Sharing; Powers of Court
2
Florida Senate. CS/HB 1301 – Parenting and Time-Sharing of Minor Children Bill Analysis
3
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 61.13 – Support of Children; Parenting and Time-Sharing; Powers of Court
4
Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida. Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.995(a) – Parenting Plan
5
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 61.13003 – Court-Ordered Electronic Communication Between a Parent and a Child
6
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 57.082 – Determination of Civil Indigent Status
7
Third Judicial Circuit of Florida. Answer to Petition to Establish Parenting Plan
8
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 61.183 – Mediation of Certain Contested Issues
9
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 61.13001 – Parental Relocation With a Child
10
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 61.517 – Temporary Emergency Jurisdiction
11
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 61.514 – Initial Child Custody Jurisdiction
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3938 – Child Custody Protection
13
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 61.733 – Temporary Custody Order
14
Internal Revenue Service. Child Tax Credit
15
Internal Revenue Service. Form 8332 – Release/Revocation of Release of Claim to Exemption for Child by Custodial Parent