In Co-Parenting, Continuity Is Better Than Perfection

The family courts base their decisions about parenting time on the children’s best interests, a criterion so context-specific that one cannot reduce it to a simple mathematical formula. It considers more than a dozen factors, but a major goal is to minimize disruption to the child’s routine. The parent that spent more time with the children during the marriage should also spend more time with them after the divorce. This often leaves the parent who, due to work obligations, spent less time with the children, feeling shortchanged. You might take this as a motivation to find a work situation that gives you more free time to spend with your children, in the hopes of modifying your parenting plan to accommodate this. It is not so simple, though. Every parent has the right to petition the court to modify their parenting plan, but the court will only approve the modification if there has been a change in circumstances that requires a change. Your fabulous new life is not a compelling reason to disrupt a child’s routine and stable family relationships, according to the family court. If you want more parenting time and need help making a persuasive case for why you should have it, contact a Boca Raton child custody lawyer.

When the Dust Settles, Court Rules That Child Should Stay in Florida With Mother Even Though She Is Not Perfect

A young couple married in Oklahoma and divorced five years later, when their son was a young child. Both of them moved frequently. The father was in the Air Force, so his work required frequent relocations. The mother remarried and eventually settled in Florida. The court awarded the mother the majority of parenting time, so she was a constant presence in his life, even though, by the time he was ten years old, he had lived in nine different houses and attended five different elementary schools.

When the father retired from the Air Force, he wished to make up for lost time with his son and increase his parenting time. He petitioned the court to modify the parenting plan. This required the court to make findings about the child’s best interests. The court even appointed a guardian ad litem to determine whether the situation warranted summoning the child’s mental health counselor to testify, when this would require waiving patient-therapist confidentiality. After costly litigation, including a trial, the court ruled that the parenting plan should remain the same, with the child attending school in Florida and therefore spending substantially more time with the mother than with the father. If you are unsuccessful in your bid to increase your parenting time, remember that the goal is for the children to have a strong relationship with both parents, and you should make the most of the parenting time you have.

Contact Schwartz | White About Increasing Your Parenting Time

A South Florida family law attorney can help you if you want to modify your parenting plan so you can have more parenting time.  Contact Schwartz | White in Boca Raton, Florida about your case.

Source:

scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=6833775949883279050&q=divorce+stable&hl=en&as_sdt=4,10&as_ylo=2015&as_yhi=2025