Parenting Plans for Adoptive Parents

Florida’s family law code is based on the assumption that it is in children’s best interest to have a stable relationship with both parents, even if the parents are not married to each other and do not live together.  It also respects the rights of parents to spend time with their children and make decisions about their upbringing.  No one loses custody of their children in a divorce, and if your ex-spouse is preventing you from seeing your children or is saying negative things about you in front of them, you can seek remedies through the courts.  The right to court-ordered parenting time belongs to the legal parents of minor children; you can become a child’s legal parent through birth or adoption.  Every child has a maximum of two legal parents.  If you and your spouse adopted children together but are now getting a divorce, contact a Boca Raton child custody lawyer.

Adoptive Parents Are Legal Parents

Every legal parent of a minor child has the right to a court-ordered parenting plan.  The parenting plan indicates which overnights during the year the child spends with which parent.  The timesharing schedule portion of the parenting plan is sufficiently detailed that it accounts for “normal” weeks, as well as school breaks and three-day weekends.  It also includes provisions about transporting the children from one parent’s house to the other.  For example, if Dad’s parenting time starts on Friday evenings, does Mom drop the children off at 6:00 p.m., or do the children take the school bus to Dad’s house on Fridays and to Mom’s house on the other days of the week.  The parenting plan also includes a framework for making decisions about the children’s education, extracurricular activities, and non-emergency medical care.

All couples in the process of divorce must draft a parenting plan if they have minor children together, and the judge signs off on the parenting plan when the divorce becomes final.  Parents who have never been legally married but have children together may also request parenting time.  The timesharing schedule on the parenting plan is one of the factors in calculating child support.  Most couples finalize their parenting plans in mediation; the judge only decides the terms of the parenting plan if the case goes to trial.

You Have the Same Parental Rights, Even If Your Ex-Spouse Is Genetically Related to Your Children but You Are Not

You have the right to court-ordered parenting time, as well as the obligation to pay or the right to receive child support, if you are the child’s legal parent.  The law makes no distinction between genetic parents and adoptive parents in this regard.  If you adopted your stepchildren after marrying your spouse, you remain their legal parent after you divorce your spouse, and your ex-spouse’s genetic relationship to the children does not entitle him or her to a greater share of parenting time.

Contact Schwartz | White About Parenting Plans

A South Florida family law attorney can help you exercise your court-ordered parenting time with your adopted children.  Contact Schwartz | White in Boca Raton, Florida about your case.

Source:

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