best interests standard Archives - Family Diplomacy

Florida Divorce and Fathers’ Child Custody Rights

August 11, 2013/0 Comments/in Custody Law, Florida Statutes, Kids //Tags: best interests standard, child custody, co-parenting, collaborative divorce, divorce, father's rights, florida divorce, parent child relationship, parental rights, parenting plan, time-sharingby Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-Law

Many people believe that, in Florida divorces, there is a legal presumption that mothers should get majority time-sharing (formerly known as primary custody) with the parties’ children. This is simply not the case, as judges fashion Florida time-sharing schedules based solely on the best interests of the children, regardless of the gender of the parents.

Florida Statutes Section 61.13(2)(c)1 states specifically that “[t]here is no presumption for or against the father or mother of the child or for or against any specific time-sharing schedule when creating or modifying the parenting plan of the child.”

So what factors do judges look at to determine children’s best interests when shaping time-sharing schedules?

Disparaging The Other Parent Hurts Your Child And Your Florida Child Custody Case

April 18, 2012/0 Comments/in Florida Statutes, Kids, Kids Ok //Tags: best interests standard, child custody, child custody case, child support, divorce, Florida Statutes, modification of final judgment, parent child relationship, parental responsibility, parenting plan, paternity, temporary child custody, time-sharingby Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-Law

Rosalind Sedacca, a divorce and parenting coach and author, writes about why parents should not bash one another in front of their children:

When you put down their other parent, your children are likely to interpret it as a put-down of part of them. When both parents are guilty of this behavior, it can create a great confusion along with a sense of unworthiness and low self-esteem. “Something’s wrong with me” becomes the child’s unconscious belief.

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TMH v. DMT: Florida Appellate Court Recognizes Parental Rights of Both Lesbian Mothers in Case of Fertilized Egg Transplant

March 31, 2012/2 Comments/in Case Law Update, Florida Statutes, LGBT Family Law Matters //Tags: adoption, best interests standard, case law, child custody, Family Law News, Florida Statutes, gay adoption, gay marriage, gay rights, lesbian adoption, lesbian rights, parental responsibility, parental rights, parenting plan, paternity, relocation, same sex couples, same sex marriage, time-sharing, UCCJEAby Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-Law

Here’s the story: Two women are in a committed lesbian relationship when they decide to have a child together using reproductive technologies. One woman (the “Genetic Mother”) supplies the egg and has it fertilized. That egg is then implanted into her partner (the “Birth Mother”) who gives birth in 2004.

The child is given a hyphenated last name, combining the names of the Birth Mother and Genetic Mother. Birth announcements are sent out, proclaiming both partners to be mothers of the child. The partners reside with one another and the child in Florida, and they all live happily ever after.

Until 2006, when the Birth Mother and Genetic Mother break up.

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