Florida Statute 61.183: Court-Ordered Parenting Mediation Rules

Florida Statute 61.183 lets a court send parents to mediation when they cannot agree on parental responsibility, the primary residence of the child, access or visitation, child support, or any combination of those issues. If the parents reach a deal in mediation, the mediator drafts a consent agreement, the parties and their attorneys review it, and once the court approves it, the agreement becomes an enforceable court order. The statute is short, but it is the mechanism Florida courts rely on to resolve contested parenting and support disputes without a trial.¹

What the Statute Authorizes

Section 61.183 gives a Florida judge express authority to refer contested family cases to mediation. The referral is not limited to divorces; it applies whenever parents are fighting over parental responsibility, where the child will live, time-sharing access, or child support. A judge can order mediation on the court’s own motion or on request from either parent.

Once the referral is made, the mediation is conducted by a certified family mediator, and the parents are expected to participate in good faith. Section 61.183 sits alongside Section 61.13, which sets out the substantive standards a court would apply if the case did not settle. Mediation under 61.183 is the pressure valve; 61.13 is what the judge would decide if the valve fails.

How Court-Ordered Mediation Works

After the court refers the case, the parents meet with the mediator, usually with counsel present. The mediator does not decide anything. The role is to help the parents identify what they actually disagree about and to move them toward a workable arrangement on each contested issue.

If the parents reach agreement, the mediator prepares a consent agreement that puts the deal in writing. Both parents and their attorneys review it. The signed agreement then goes to the court. The judge reviews the agreement and, if it meets the legal requirements, enters it as an order of the court. From that point forward, the agreement has the same legal force as any other order the judge could have issued after a contested hearing.¹

That last point matters. Parents sometimes treat a mediated deal as informal, especially when they are on speaking terms and the arrangement is working. It is not informal. Once the court signs the consent order, a violation is a violation of a court order, and the other parent can enforce it the same way any other custody or support order is enforced.

What If Mediation Fails

If the parents cannot agree, or reach agreement on some issues but not others, the mediator reports the impasse to the court. The unresolved issues then proceed to a contested hearing. The judge decides them using the framework in Section 61.13, including the statutory best-interest factors and, for time-sharing, the presumption that equal time-sharing serves the child’s interests.² Anything the parents did agree on in mediation can still be submitted for approval as a partial consent order.

Confidentiality of the Mediation

Section 61.183 makes mediation communications confidential. All oral and written communications in a mediation conducted under the statute, including the mediator’s notes, records, and case summary prepared for the parties, are exempt from Florida’s public records requirements.¹

The practical effect is that things said in mediation stay in mediation. A parent who concedes something during negotiation, floats a compromise proposal, or acknowledges a fact to move the conversation forward is not creating evidence for use at a later hearing. That protection is what makes candid negotiation possible. Without it, parents would treat mediation as a deposition and refuse to say anything useful.

Confidentiality attaches to the process, not to the outcome. Once the parents sign a consent agreement and the court approves it, the resulting order is a public court document like any other. What is protected is everything said, offered, and considered along the way.

Who Pays for Mediation

Section 61.183 addresses cost in one specific setting: child support cases handled through Florida’s Title IV-D program, which is the state’s federally supported child support enforcement system. In those cases, the mediation costs and any related filing fees are assessed only against the non-prevailing party, and only after the court determines that party has the ability to pay.¹

Outside the Title IV-D context, how mediation costs are split depends on the referral order, local circuit rules, and any agreement between the parents. Many circuits use a sliding scale for parents who cannot afford a private mediator’s hourly rate. If cost is a concern, raise it with the court at the time of the referral rather than after the mediator has been engaged.

What Section 61.183 Does Not Cover

Section 61.183 is the mediation statute. It is not the parenting plan statute, and it does not itself set out the standards a court applies when it has to decide a contested issue. A few boundaries worth knowing:

The required contents of a parenting plan, the equal time-sharing presumption, the statutory best-interest factors, and the presumptions against shared parental responsibility for parents with certain domestic violence or sex offense convictions all live in Section 61.13, not 61.183.²
Rules on modifying an existing parenting plan, including the requirement to show a substantial and material change in circumstances, are part of Section 61.13.²
Parental relocation of 50 miles or more is governed by its own statute, Section 61.13001, with a separate petition, a 20-day objection deadline, and its own burden-shifting framework.³
Temporary time-sharing changes tied to military activation, deployment, or temporary assignment are governed by Section 61.13002, which limits what a court can do based on a parent’s military service and lets a deployed parent designate a family member to exercise time-sharing during the deployment. Federal law also lets a servicemember on notice request a stay of proceedings during service and for 90 days after.⁴⁵

If your question is about any of those subjects, 61.183 will only get you to the mediation table. The rules that decide the underlying dispute are elsewhere.

Practical Takeaways for Parents Ordered to Mediate

A referral under Section 61.183 is not a hearing you can lose in the ordinary sense, but the outcome will shape your parenting arrangement for years. A few points are worth keeping in mind before the session.

Come with a proposed parenting plan, or at least a draft, rather than a list of grievances. The mediator’s job is to move the parents toward specific written terms. Parents who arrive with concrete proposals on the schedule, holiday rotation, exchange location, health care decisions, and school-related decisions tend to finish mediation with an agreement. Parents who arrive only knowing what they oppose tend not to.

Treat the confidentiality protection as a working tool. It exists so that you can float a compromise without fearing it will be used against you at trial if mediation collapses. Use it. Offers made in mediation are not admissions.

Read the consent agreement carefully before signing. Once it is signed and the court approves it, the terms become an order. Ambiguities in a mediated agreement, particularly around exchange locations, communication between parent and child during the other parent’s time, and holiday scheduling, are a common source of later enforcement fights. If a provision is unclear at the table, it will be unclear at 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve.

Finally, remember what happens if you cannot agree. The case goes to a contested hearing, and the judge decides using Section 61.13’s best-interest factors and the equal time-sharing presumption. Mediation under 61.183 is generally the last opportunity to shape the outcome yourselves.

1
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 61.183 – Mediation of Certain Contested Issues
2
Florida Senate. Florida Code 61.13 – Support of Children; Parenting and Time-sharing; Powers of Court
3
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 61.13001 – Parental Relocation With a Child
4
Florida Senate. Florida Code 61.13002 – Temporary Time-sharing Modification and Child Support Modification Due to Military Service
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 U.S. Code 3932 – Stay of Proceedings When Servicemember Has Notice