Florida Parenting Plan Laws

A Florida parenting plan is the court-approved framework, defined under Fla. Stat. § 61.046(14) ^[1], that spells out how you and your child’s other parent will handle time-sharing, decision-making, and communication. Florida law generally calls for one in a divorce involving a minor child, and in a paternity case once parentage has been legally established and time-sharing is at issue, even when both parents agree on the terms.

What you put in this plan now will shape school choices, holidays, medical decisions, and your child’s day-to-day routine for years to come. A plan built around your family’s actual schedule holds up better than one built to win an argument, so getting it right protects both your child’s stability and your peace of mind. 

What Florida Law Requires in a Parenting Plan

Florida law spells out exactly what a parenting plan must include before a judge will approve it. Fla. Stat. § 61.13(2)(b) ^[2] sets the minimum, whether you and the other parent agree on the plan or a judge writes it for you.

• Daily responsibilities: How you and the other parent will share and manage the everyday tasks of raising your child.
• Time-sharing schedule: Specific days, overnights, holidays, and school breaks each parent has with the child.
• Decision-making responsibility: Who decides on health care, school enrollment, and extracurricular activities.
• Communication with your child: The methods and technology each parent will use to stay in touch with your child during the other parent’s time.
• Exchange locations: Where custody exchanges happen, including a neutral safe-exchange location if the court finds that’s necessary for safety.

Parental Responsibility: Who Makes the Big Decisions

Child custody in Florida is determined through parental responsibility and time-sharing rather than traditional custody labels. Florida law generally starts from the position that both parents should share responsibility for making major decisions about their child’s upbringing unless doing so would be harmful to the child. Shared parental responsibility does not always require parents to agree on every issue. Instead, a parenting plan can divide decision-making authority by category, allowing one parent to have final authority over medical decisions while the other has final authority over education or other important matters.

Florida’s Equal Time-Sharing Presumption

Florida courts start from the presumption that equal time-sharing serves your child’s best interests. This presumption took effect July 1, 2023, and applies unless a parent proves, by a preponderance of the evidence, that equal time is not in the child’s best interests. ^[3]

That does not guarantee an exact 50/50 schedule. It sets the starting point a judge works from before weighing the specific facts of your case.

How Judges Decide When Parents Disagree

When parents cannot agree, the judge evaluates a detailed list of best-interest factors, ^[4] directs the court to weigh each parent’s ability to foster the child’s relationship with the other parent, the stability of each home, the child’s ties to school and community, and each parent’s moral and mental fitness.

• History of domestic violence or abuse: A judge must weigh this directly and may limit or restrict time-sharing for the parent with a history of violence.
• Safety concerns generally: Courts can order supervised or restricted time-sharing, including a required safe-exchange location, when the facts support it.

What Happens If You or the Other Parent Wants to Relocate

Florida defines relocation as moving your principal residence 50 miles or more away, for 60 or more consecutive days. ^[5] If everyone entitled to time-sharing agrees, you can satisfy the statute with a written agreement that sets a time-sharing schedule for the parent staying behind, and the court must ratify that agreement, generally without a hearing, if there is already an open case. Without an agreement, the relocating parent must file a sworn petition to relocate, which the court evaluates under the statute’s relocation factors.

Moving without following one of these two paths can put your case back in front of a judge, regardless of your reason for the move.

Building a Parenting Plan That Fits Your Family

Many Florida parenting plans get finalized by agreement, not by a judge deciding for you. Working through the details together, often with the help of mediation, usually produces a plan both parents are more likely to follow. Your time-sharing schedule also affects your child support calculation, since Florida’s guidelines factor in the number of overnights each parent has.

Judges in Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties see thousands of parenting plans a year, and each courthouse has its own rhythm for reviewing and approving them. We handle parenting plan cases across all three, so we know what local judges expect before you walk in.

At Kalish & Jaggars, we walk you through the plan section by section, in plain English, before you sign anything or step into court.

If the Other Parent Violates the Plan

A parenting plan only works if both parents follow it. Florida courts have tools to enforce a violated plan, including make-up time-sharing, attorney’s fees and costs, and contempt of court.^[6]

If your child is in immediate danger, you do not have to wait for a full hearing. Our guide to enforcing a time-sharing order in Florida walks through how emergency relief and standard enforcement both work.

Modifying a Parenting Plan Later

Life changes, and Florida law allows you to ask the court to change an existing parenting plan when it does. You will need to show a substantial, material change in circumstances since your last order, along with proof that the change serves your child’s best interests. If your situation calls for that step, our child custody modification page walks through the process.

Until a judge approves a new order, the existing plan stays in effect and both parents remain bound by its terms.

How Kalish & Jaggars Can Help

You do not have to understand Florida’s parenting plan statute to protect your relationship with your child. That is what we are here for.

We start with a consultation where we listen to your situation, explain how Florida law applies to your family, and outline a plan built around your child’s actual routine and your goals. You will leave with clarity about what to expect next, not just a quote.