Articles Posted in Custody/Time-Sharing

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According to the National Center for State Courts, approximately 18 million children in the United States have parents who are separated or no longer married and the parents of another 17 million children never married one another. About 25 percent of those children have a parent who resides in another city. Additionally, three-fourths of single mothers relocate at least once within the first four years after a divorce or separation. Consequently, nearly 10 million American children do not have regular face-to-face contact with one of their parents.

New technology such as Skype, email, text messages, and social media like Facebook provide some parents who live far away from their children with an opportunity to stay more connected. Six states, including Florida, have enacted laws regarding virtual or electronic parenting. Under the laws, a family court may award a parent who no longer resides in the same city as his or her children with access through electronic communications as part of a comprehensive parenting plan. The court will determine the duration, frequency, and type of electronic communications a parent is entitled to. Additionally, a court may halt all electronic communications if the interactions prove to be abusive or otherwise harmful to a child’s emotional, physical, or mental well-being.

Virtual visitation advocates believe electronic communications helps maintain the relationship between divorced parents and their minor children. Although electronic communications cannot replace physical visitation, such communication reportedly acts as a supplement that allows the long distance parent to stay involved in the day-to-day aspects of their children’s lives. Critics believe some parents use the opportunity for court awarded virtual visitation as an excuse to move away. Others believe electronic communications are too often used to spy on a custodial parent.

Regardless of the reason for a parent’s relocation, virtual visitation has the opportunity to provide long distance parents with an opportunity to keep in constant contact with their children. The additional contact may provide psychological benefits to a child of divorce or separation and reduce stress for everyone involved. Still, family courts must always keep the best interests of the child at the forefront of any virtual visitation order. If you are a parent who would like to have increased contact with your children between physical visits, speak with a knowledgeable Florida family law attorney about your child custody options.

Many Florida parents struggle with the question of who will have physical custody of their children following a separation or divorce. In the State of Florida, divorcing parents of minor children must enter into a time-sharing agreement. A time-sharing agreement outlines exactly how much time a child will spend with each parent throughout the year. If a child’s parents cannot agree on a time-sharing schedule, a family court will order a schedule that takes into account the moral fitness of the parents, any evidence of abuse, and other statutory factors.
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Yesterday, a judge in Miami-Dade’s Family Court lifted an emergency protection order that forbade a 22-year-old father from seeing his 3-year-old daughter. The father is currently engaged in a custody battle with the child’s mother, a Venezuelan national who reportedly accused him of kidnapping their daughter in March 2011. She allegedly filed a missing persons report on the child before returning to Venezuela to give birth to another baby. It is currently unclear whether she ever intends to return to the United States.

In February, the father was reportedly arrested in Pensacola and returned to Miami-Dade on interfering with child custody charges. He was released from jail on Wednesday. His mother was also reportedly arrested for interfering with child custody after she brought the child to court last month in order to demonstrate she was not missing and was being well cared for. Last Monday, a Miami-Dade judge dismissed both interfering with custody charges.

According to the man’s mother, she and her husband had custody of the child at the time the child’s mother reported her missing. The child’s mother allegedly accused the child’s father of child abuse, child neglect, and domestic violence as well as kidnapping. A home study of the grandmother’s residence reportedly revealed no environmental hazards, no evidence of abuse, and stated the child was happy. Following the home study, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman granted temporary custody of the child to the grandparents. Permanent custody of the child will not be resolved until the child’s mother returns from Venezuela.

To many parents, the question of who will retain custody of your children following a separation or divorce is an emotional one. Since October 2008, child custody arrangements in Florida have been referred to as time-sharing schedules. A time-sharing agreement generally outlines the amount of time a child will spend with each parent, including overnights, weekends, school breaks, and holidays. If parents cannot come to an agreement regarding a time-sharing plan, one will be ordered by a family court. A Florida family court will normally examine the moral fitness of the parents, any evidence of abuse, and a variety of other statutory factors when creating a time-sharing schedule. Because a Florida parent who wishes to modify a time-sharing plan must show substantially changed circumstances, modifying a time-sharing plan can be difficult. If you are a Florida parent who would like to establish or modify your child’s time-sharing plan, it is a good idea to contact a skilled family law lawyer to assist you.
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A Titusville father and his girlfriend are being held without bail in Brevard County after authorities reportedly removed a 12-year-old boy who was allegedly starved and locked in a small closet in their home. The son of the 38-year-old father was reportedly taken to a local hospital where he was treated for dehydration and malnourishment after police went to the home to investigate a child abuse report. The father and his girlfriend were both reportedly arrested by police and charged with three counts each of aggravated child abuse and child neglect. During an emergency custody hearing, the boy, his 10-year old sister, and the girlfriend’s 15-year-old son were reportedly placed in the care of the Florida Department of Children and Families by Brevard County Judge Tonya Rainwater.

The couple is accused of allegedly starving the boy and locking him up as punishment for stealing food. According to police, the 12-year-old weighed only 40 pounds when he was removed from the home. The child was allegedly locked in a closet, locked in a bathroom, or strapped to a bed repeatedly over the course of the preceding year. The other two children taken from the home were also examined by physicians.

The father was reportedly investigated in 2010 for child neglect. After the allegations were investigated, the boy was allegedly taken out of the Brevard Public School system. Until this month, there was no further contact between the household and child welfare officials. Although the children are under the supervision of the Florida Department of Children and Families, they are currently being cared for by a grandparent. State officials are also attempting to locate the 12-year-old’s mother. They have reportedly located and are communicating with the father of the girlfriend’s son. The father of the 12-year-old reportedly has another child living with an ex-wife in Ohio whom he has not seen in approximately 14 years.

Few subjects are more emotional to parents than who will care for your children after a divorce or other separation. In the State of Florida, a parent who seeks to modify a child custody order has a responsibility to demonstrate substantially changed circumstances and the child’s best interests must justify any change. A family court will examine a parent’s fitness to raise the child, the parent primarily responsible for the child’s upbringing, the child’s age, and the child’s preference when considering a request to change a custody arrangement. Other factors such as the moral fitness of the parents, any evidence of sexual violence, child neglect, child abuse, or child abandonment, and various other statutory factors will also be examined.
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This week, Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal declined to disqualify Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Maria Espinosa Dennis from a child custody case between two prominent area lawyers. After the two attorneys divorced in 2005, the former couple agreed to share custody of their two small children equally. Since that time, their relationship reportedly deteriorated so much so that the former wife, a law professor, asked Judge Espinosa Dennis to hold the former husband, a partner at a law firm, in contempt for allegedly violating provisions in their divorce agreement. According to the ex-wife, the ex-husband has continuously and repeatedly sent her abusive emails. The ex-wife also asked the judge to modify the former couple’s custody agreement.

Last November, the ex-husband filed a motion asking Judge Espinosa Dennis to recuse herself from the custody case after the law firm at which the ex-wife’s attorney is employed co-sponsored a fundraising event and donated $500 to Judge Espinosa Dennis’ re-election campaign. Judge Espinosa Dennis called the motion legally insufficient and denied his request. The former husband then appealed to Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal seeking her removal from the case. According to the ex-husband, it would be impossible for Judge Espinosa Dennis to treat him fairly due to the donations made to her campaign. Interestingly, the ex-husband’s own law firm also reportedly donated $500 to the judge’s re-election campaign last December.

The ex-wife’s appellate attorney argued that the ex-husband is simply unhappy with Judge Espinosa Dennis’ prior rulings against him. He also claims the former husband has continued the litigation in an attempt to drain his former wife’s financial resources. Because of this, the ex-wife asked the appellate court to award her approximately $100,000 in attorney’s fees. In a judgment which offered no legal reasoning except a citation to a 1991 Supreme Court of Florida case, a panel of Third District Court judges denied the ex-husband’s petition to remove Judge Espinosa Dennis from the case. Judges Richard J. Suarez, Judges Juan Ramirez Jr., and Vance E. Salter also provisionally approved the ex-wife’s request for legal fees.

Florida is a no-fault divorce state. If you have minor children, your final judgment of divorce will include a parenting plan and a custody arrangement, also called a time-sharing plan. Such a plan will outline which parent a child will spends holidays, overnights, and all other days with each week. If parents cannot agree on a time-sharing plan, one will be ordered by the court. The modification of a time-sharing plan can be difficult as a parent who is seeking modification must demonstrate changed circumstances justify the modification. If you are seeking to establish or modify your child’s time-sharing plan, a capable Broward County family law lawyer can assist you.
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A Miami-Dade judge has refused to recuse herself in a heated Florida custody dispute between two prominent attorneys, despite her alleged ties to the law firm representing the former wife. The spouses divorced in 2005 after seven years of marriage. At the time of their divorce, the couple reportedly agreed to share equal custody of their two sons. Since then, the ex-wife has accused the ex-husband of violating provisions in the former couple’s divorce agreement by repeatedly calling her names in emails. She has asked Judge Maria Espinosa Dennis to hold him in contempt and amend the custody agreement.

According to Florida election records, the law firm at which the former wife’s attorney is employed donated $500 to Judge Espinosa Dennis’ re-election campaign on November 15th. The day before, the firm also co-sponsored a fundraiser for Espinosa Dennis at a restaurant in South Miami. The former husband filed a motion asking Judge Espinosa Dennis to recuse herself on November 1st after invitations to the re-election fundraiser were distributed. Judge Espinosa Dennis denied his request and he appealed to Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal. He purportedly feels he will be unable to receive a fair hearing before the lower court judge.

The ex-wife’s law firm is also seeking an award of approximately $100,000 in costs and attorney’s fees against the ex-husband. Her appellate attorney has stated that the former husband’s recusal argument has no merit and is legally indefensible. According to the ex-wife’s lawyer, the ex-wife’s law firm took no substantive part in the re-election fundraiser and only attended the event. He also said that the Florida Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee only requires a judge to analyze an attorney’s campaign involvement when faced with a recusal request. No employee at the law firm is on Judge Espinosa Dennis’ campaign committee.

Although the former husband claims Judge Espinosa Dennis had an obligation to disclose the law firm’s fundraising efforts as a possible conflict of interest, the former wife’s attorney argues that the ex-husband is merely upset with the judge’s prior rulings against him. He also alleges that the ex-husband has continued litigation for more than two years in an attempt to drain his ex-wife’s financial resources. The former husband’s attorney stated the judge’s decision to continue to preside over the case is insensitive and fails to take into account how any reasonable individual would react given the situation.

Custody arrangements in Florida are referred to as time-sharing plans. A time-sharing plan will specify the amount of time a child will spend with each parent each week. The plan will also specify where children will spend overnights and holidays. If a child’s parents are unable to agree on a time-sharing schedule, the court will set a schedule for them. A court ordered time-sharing plan will take into account statutory factors such as the child’s preference and any instances of abuse or violence. In order to modify a time-sharing plan, Florida law requires the parent seeking modification to show substantially changed circumstances.
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The Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal recently ruled in a case of first impression involving a same sex partnership child custody dispute. In a rather unique case, two women involved in a same sex partnership decided to have a child after engaging in a committed relationship for 11 years. When one woman in the partnership learned she was infertile, the other donated an egg which was fertilized using an anonymous donor. The infertile partner then carried the child to term and a baby girl was born in January 2004. The result was that although one partner gave birth to the child, the other is the child’s biological mother.

Only the woman who gave birth to the child was listed on her birth certificate, but the child’s last name is a hyphenated version of each woman’s last name. Although the couple parted when the child was 2 years old, she continued to treat each woman as a parent and divided her time between them. When the child was 3.5 years old, the birth mother reportedly took the child and left the country without notice. A short time after the egg donor learned of their whereabouts, the two returned to Florida.

The child’s biological mother filed a lawsuit in Brevard County seeking visitation. A circuit judge reluctantly ruled in favor of the child’s birth mother because a woman who gives birth to a child is the child’s mother according to Florida law. The biological mother appealed to the Fifth District Court of Appeal. The appellate court stated both the United States and Florida constitutions provide parental rights to both women and preempt Florida law on the matter. The Fifth District overturned the Brevard County judge’s decision and remanded the case to determine visitation, custody, and child support issues based on the best interests of the child.

The appellate court also asked the Florida Supreme Court to consider whether application of the Florida statute regarding parentage to the facts of the case at hand rendered the statute itself unconstitutional.

In the state of Florida, a custody arrangement is generally referred to as a time-sharing schedule. An overall parenting plan which includes a time-sharing schedule is usually established when parents divorce but can be established any time parenting partners choose to end their relationship. A time sharing plan outlines the amount of time a child will spend with each parent every week. This includes both holidays and overnights. If a child’s parents cannot agree on a time-sharing plan, a court will set a schedule which takes into account a variety of statutory factors and the child’s preference. Florida law requires a parent who seeks to modify a time-sharing schedule to show the existence of substantially changed circumstances which justify the change.
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A Lee County judge signed an order Thursday demanding the return of Country singer Mindy McCready’s 5-year-old son, Zander, to his maternal grandmother’s care in Florida. McCready reportedly took the boy to her home in Tennessee after visiting him late last month at her father’s Florida home. McCready, who is reportedly seven months pregnant with twins, said she was currently incapable of travel and allegedly refused to return her son to Florida.

McCready’s mother was named Zander’s guardian in 2007. Since then, the two have engaged in a long battle over his custody. The 36-year-old singer recently accused her mother of abusing Zander and stated she took the child in an effort to protect him. Her mother denies the allegations. In August, McCready also filed a libel lawsuit against her mother.

Early Saturday morning, Arkansas authorities reportedly took Zander into custody at a previously unoccupied summer home in Heber Springs. McCready allegedly did not have permission to be on the property and was found hiding in a bedroom closet with her son. The Arkansas Division of Children and Family Services is currently making arrangements to return the child to his grandmother in Florida. McCready has allegedly told her half-brother via text message their mother would never see her again.

McCready has reportedly led a complicated life since finding fame. She allegedly suffers from severe depression, has publicly battled a drug addiction, and she spent time in the hospital three years ago for an alleged suicide attempt. It is unclear whether McCready will now face criminal charges for violating the custody arrangement and the judge’s order.

Changes to child custody arrangements must be approved by the courts. In Florida, a parent must show substantially changed circumstances since the original arrangement was created before a court will modify a child custody arrangement. Additionally, the child’s best interests must justify any change. A parent’s fitness to raise the child, the child’s age, the parent primarily responsible for the child’s upbringing, and the child’s preference are all factors a court will look at when determining the best interests of a child. The court will also look at other factors such as the moral fitness of the parents, any evidence of sexual violence, child abuse, child neglect or child abandonment, and various other statutory factors.
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A number of judges in Broward and Miami Dade county courts have begun ordering divorcing parents to use third-party websites designed to effectively manage scheduling for their children. Websites such as OurFamilyWizard.com and ShareKids.com allow parents to maintain an online calendar to communicate important events, appointments and custody hand-offs. The technology can often eliminate the need for parents to call, text, or email one another during times of discord. The websites can also provide parents with an incentive to restrict highly emotional or vindictive communications because messages cannot be erased and all communications may be traced. Additionally, such technology may cut down on time spent in court as the websites may be viewed by divorce mediators, lawyers and judges.

Scheduling websites for divorced parents are popular. OurFamilyWizard.com was started in 2001 and currently has more than 20,000 subscribers hailing from all 50 states and some foreign countries. It provides parents with a shared calendar, expense logs, a place to list significant telephone numbers, a message board accessible to children as well as parents, and space to upload and view documents like report cards and school awards. Courts in more than 35 states currently order its use. ShareKids.com, founded by a divorced father of four, offers many of the same features.

Broward County’s administrative family court judge, Susan Greenhawt, believes other forms of communication such as emails and texts are not always an effective method for parents to communicate productively. She thinks scheduling websites have the ability to assist parents who are seeking what is best for their children. Miami-Dade chief family court judge Sandy Karlan has stated most judges in the county have been recommending the technology to parents for years. Many judges also order its use. Both judges said they generally encounter little opposition from parents who are ordered to use the online scheduling websites. Parents who divorced before use of the technology became widespread may also find the sites useful.

In Florida, custody arrangements are referred to as time-sharing. A parenting plan that includes a time-sharing schedule is established when parents divorce. This plan will outline the amount of time each week a child will spend with each parent including overnights and holidays. If parents cannot agree on a time-sharing plan, the court will set a schedule which takes into account several statutory factors such as abuse or violence and the child’s preference. In order to modify a time-sharing plan, Florida law requires a parent seeking modification to show circumstances have changed substantially enough to justify the change.
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A Broward divorce lawyer and his client received promising news last week which may help him regain custody of his child. Christopher Dahm was advised by the United States Department of State that his former wife, Leslie Delbecq, was detained at the Abu Dhabi airport when she attempted to depart the United Arab Emirates.

Dahm has been engaged in a global search for his two year old child for approximately one year. The United States Federal government has indicted his former wife with the crime of parental kidnapping, a violation of the laws of the United States of America.

The court in Abu Dhabi has requested information and documentation about the federal charges which are pending against Ms. Debeq who, along with her mother and father, were recently indicted by a federal grand jury.

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Today, Broward marital and family law Circuit Judge Susan Greenhawt appointed a guardian ad litem for two girls and ordered an expedited study to determine if a relative is capable of having temporary child custody of the minor children. While the court waits to learn whether or not the young girls, ages 6 months and 5 years old, have a relative who they can reside with they have been placed in foster care. The court also ordered supervised time-sharing between the mother and the minor children when she is released from jail.

On Tuesday, an anonymous tip led Broward Sherrif’s officers to a home where they discovered roaches in three rooms, trash and mold in the living room, foul odors in the kitchen and piles of garbage on the floor. The two minor children were sleeping in a roach infested bedroom without sheets on their bed. An animal control officer also discovered filthy and malnourished pitbulls in the back yard.

When child protective services investigators arrived at the home, they were unable to locate any responsible adults to watch the two children. The children were immediately placed in protective child custody.

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