Florida Custody Agreement: Parenting Plan, Time-Sharing, and Relocation

In Florida, what most people call a custody agreement is legally known as a parenting plan. The state stopped using the word “custody” in its family law statutes years ago, and every arrangement between parents is now built around a written parenting plan with a time-sharing schedule. Since July 2023, courts start from a rebuttable presumption that equal time-sharing serves the child’s best interests, and both parents are presumed to share decision-making authority unless a judge finds otherwise.¹ Once a judge signs it, the parenting plan is an enforceable court order covering everything from school pickups to holiday rotations.

The Equal Time-Sharing Presumption

The biggest recent shift in Florida family law is the presumption that children should spend roughly equal time with each parent. Under Section 61.13(2)(c), courts now begin every contested case assuming a 50/50 split is in the child’s best interests.¹ The presumption is rebuttable, but the burden sits on the parent who wants something different. That parent must show, by a preponderance of the evidence, that equal time-sharing is not in the child’s best interests.

This changes the starting point of every negotiation. A parent asking for a majority of overnights now has to explain why the other parent should get less. When parents agree on a different split and the court approves it, the presumption doesn’t come into play. When they disagree, the judge must weigh every statutory best-interests factor and explain in writing why the final schedule departs from equal time, if it does.

What a Florida Parenting Plan Must Include

Every parenting plan, whether the parents draft it together or a judge imposes one, must contain the same core elements. Section 61.13(2)(b) sets them out, and missing any one of them can cause the court to reject the plan.²

A description of how each parent will handle daily tasks like meals, homework, bedtime routines, and getting the child to school.
A time-sharing schedule showing which days and overnights the child spends with each parent, including the weekly rotation, holidays, school breaks, and summer.
An assignment of health care responsibility. If both parents share health care decisions, either can consent to mental health treatment unless the plan says otherwise.
School-related matters, including the address used to determine school boundary and enrollment.
The methods and technologies the parents and child will use to communicate during the other parent’s time, such as phone calls, video chat, or texting.
Authorized exchange locations for drop-off and pickup, unless the parents agree otherwise in writing. A court can require a neutral safe-exchange location if there is a risk of harm.

The statutory definition also requires the plan to address jurisdictional issues under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act and international child abduction treaties.³ Most families won’t need to think about those sections, but they become critical if a parent has ties to another state or country.

Right of First Refusal

A common optional clause is the right of first refusal. It requires a parent who can’t be with the child during their scheduled time to offer that time to the other parent before calling a babysitter or relative. Florida law doesn’t require it, and if you include it, define it carefully: how long an absence triggers the offer, how quickly the other parent must respond, and who handles transportation. Vague language here creates more fights than it prevents.

Decision-Making vs. Time-Sharing

Time-sharing and parental responsibility are two separate things, and people mix them up constantly. Time-sharing is about where the child sleeps. Parental responsibility is about who makes major decisions on education, health care, religious upbringing, and extracurricular activities. Florida law presumes both parents share this decision-making authority.¹

A court will only award sole parental responsibility when shared decision-making would be detrimental to the child. The statute identifies specific circumstances that create a rebuttable presumption of detriment:

A parent convicted of a first-degree misdemeanor or higher involving domestic violence.
A parent who meets the criteria for termination of parental rights due to egregious conduct under Florida’s child welfare statutes.
A parent convicted of or granted a withhold of adjudication for a qualifying sex offense, where the parent was 18 or older and the victim was under 18.

Outside those situations, the parent seeking sole responsibility has to prove joint decision-making would harm the child. That’s a hard standard to meet. Disagreeing about parenting styles or disliking the other parent doesn’t qualify.

How a Judge Decides When Parents Can’t Agree

When parents can’t settle on a plan, a judge decides. The court evaluates all factors affecting the child’s welfare under Section 61.13(3).¹ Key factors include:

Whether each parent encourages the child’s relationship with the other, honors the schedule, and stays flexible.
How much hands-on parenting each parent handles personally versus delegating to third parties.
Whether each parent makes decisions based on the child’s needs rather than their own preferences.
How long the child has lived in a stable environment and whether maintaining continuity is desirable.
Whether the plan is geographically realistic, particularly for school-age children who can’t spend hours commuting.
Moral fitness and the mental and physical health of both parents. This isn’t a perfection test; a parent with managed health conditions won’t lose time for that reason alone.
The child’s record at home, school, and in the community.
The child’s preference, if the judge considers the child mature enough to express a meaningful opinion.
Whether each parent knows the child’s friends, teachers, doctors, daily activities, and favorite things.
Whether each parent provides consistent routines around homework, meals, bedtime, and discipline.
How well the parents communicate with each other about the child.

No single factor controls the outcome. Judges weigh them collectively, and the weight shifts with the family’s circumstances. In practice, willingness to co-parent and child-focused decision-making tend to carry heavy influence in contested cases.

Forms, Filing, and Mediation

Florida provides standardized court-approved forms that handle most of the drafting work. The main one is Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.995(a), the standard parenting plan template.⁴ If the case involves supervised visits or domestic violence history, use Form 12.995(b), the supervised/safety-focused parenting plan.⁵

Before filling in either form, gather:

Each child’s full legal name, date of birth, and Social Security number.
The current school name, address, and enrollment details.
Pediatrician, dentist, and specialist names and contact information.
Health insurance policy details, including policy number and carrier.
Addresses for both parents’ homes and any regular activity locations, since travel time affects feasibility.

Accuracy matters. A judge can reject a plan with blank fields, inconsistent dates, or vague language. If both parents agree on the plan, they sign and file it together. If not, either parent can file a proposed plan for the court to consider at the final hearing.

The completed plan goes to the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county where the original case was filed or where the child lives.⁴ Filing fees run roughly $397 to $409 for a dissolution of marriage petition and about $301 for a petition to establish a parenting plan under Chapter 742 for parents who were never married.⁶ A fee waiver is available for people who can’t afford the cost.

When parents disagree on any part of the plan, Florida law requires the court to send the dispute to mediation in circuits that have a family mediation program, which at this point is nearly all of them.⁷ The one exception: a court won’t order mediation if there’s a history of domestic violence that would compromise the process. Mediation is a confidential session with a neutral third party who helps parents negotiate the open issues; the mediator doesn’t make decisions or give legal advice.⁸ Anything the parents agree on gets written up and signed; anything they don’t goes to the judge.

Whether the plan came from the parents, mediation, or a trial, a family court judge reviews it for the required elements and for the child’s best interests. The judge can reject a plan the parents agreed on if it shortchanges the child.³ Once the judge signs the order, it’s binding. Keep a certified copy accessible, because schools, doctors, and travel authorities may need to see it.

Changing the Plan Later

Life changes, and parenting plans sometimes need to change with it. Florida doesn’t allow modifications just because a parent is unhappy with the current arrangement. Section 61.13(3) requires the parent asking for a change to show two things: a substantial, material change in circumstances that wasn’t reasonably anticipated when the plan was approved, and that the proposed change is in the child’s best interests.¹

Common qualifying changes include a parent’s job relocation, a significant change in a parent’s health, the child’s evolving needs with age, or the other parent’s repeated failure to follow the existing plan. Temporary disruptions generally don’t qualify; the change has to be ongoing and significant. One specific exception: if the 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 for purposes of adjusting the schedule.

Moving More Than 50 Miles

Moving more than 50 miles from your residence at the time of the last order triggers a formal legal process under Section 61.13001. The statute defines “relocation” as a move of at least 50 miles lasting at least 60 consecutive days, excluding temporary absences for vacation, education, or medical care.⁹

A parent who wants to relocate with the child must file a petition and serve it on the other parent, who then has 20 days to object in writing. If no timely objection is filed, the court may allow the move without a hearing, unless the judge finds it’s not in the child’s best interests. If the other parent objects, the relocating parent cannot move with the child until the court grants permission after a hearing or trial. Moving before approval, even briefly, can be treated as a violation of the existing order and can seriously damage the relocating parent’s position at the hearing.

When a Parent Doesn’t Follow the Plan

Once the plan is a court order, both parents have to follow it. A parent who believes the other is violating the plan can file a motion for enforcement or a motion for contempt. Common violations include denying scheduled time-sharing, refusing to communicate about medical needs, or making unilateral decisions about school enrollment.

Courts have a range of tools. The most common remedy is makeup time-sharing: the parent who was denied time gets extra days to compensate. A judge can also change the exchange location, impose supervised visitation, or appoint a parenting coordinator to help manage ongoing disputes. For serious or repeated violations, the court can hold the violating parent in contempt, which can mean fines, attorney’s fees awarded to the other parent, and in extreme cases, jail time. Repeated violations can also support a full modification of the plan itself.

Two Things Worth Addressing in the Plan

Who Claims the Child on Taxes

Under federal tax rules, the custodial parent gets to claim the child as a dependent by default. The IRS defines the custodial parent as the one the child lived with for the greater number of nights during the tax year. If the nights were exactly equal, the custodial parent is the one with the higher adjusted gross income.¹⁰

If the parents want the noncustodial parent to claim the child instead, the custodial parent must sign IRS Form 8332 releasing the claim. The noncustodial parent attaches the signed form to their tax return. The release can cover a single year, specific alternating years, or all future years.¹¹ A Florida court can address tax dependency in the parenting plan, but the IRS follows its own rules; without the signed form attached to the return, the noncustodial parent’s claim gets denied.

Passports for Minor Children

Getting a passport for a child under 16 requires both parents to appear in person at the passport office, or the absent parent must submit a notarized Form DS-3053 consenting to issuance.¹² The consent statement is only valid for 90 days from the notary’s signature date. A parent with sole legal custody established by court order can apply without the other parent’s consent by presenting that order. Build passport language into the plan early, because a disagreement over international travel can delay processing for months.

1
Florida Senate. Florida Code 61.13 – Support of Children; Parenting and Time-Sharing; Powers of Court
2
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 61.13 – Support of Children; Parenting and Time-Sharing; Powers of Court
3
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 61.046 – Definitions
4
Florida State Courts System. Instructions for Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.995(a) – Parenting Plan
5
Escambia County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller. Instructions for Florida Supreme Court Family Law Form 12.995(b) – Supervised Safety-Focused Parenting Plan
6
Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation. 2025 Distribution Schedule of Court-Related Filing Fees
7
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 44.102 – Court-Ordered Mediation
8
Florida Courts. Mediation
9
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 61.13001 – Parental Relocation with a Child
10
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 504 – Divorced or Separated Individuals
11
Internal Revenue Service. Form 8332 – Release/Revocation of Release of Claim to Exemption for Child by Custodial Parent
12
U.S. Department of State. Statement of Consent – U.S. Passport Issuance to a Child