Tag Archive for: time-sharing

Hillsborough County – New Child Custody Proceedings Administrative Order

Chief Judge Manuel Menendez, Jr., of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit (Hillsborough County) recently entered a new administrative order that pertains to child custody proceedings.  Below is a summary of AO S-2011-014:

  1. For Chapter 751 Proceedings (Temporary Custody of Minor Children by Extended Family):
    1. Uncontested and Contested Proceedings:  Petitions for temporary custody of a minor child by an extended family member (i.e., grandparent, aunt, uncle, cousin, etc.) must be written and signed under oath, and filed with the clerk of the court.  The case will be assigned to the Family Law/Domestic Relations Division.  An executed Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement (“UCCJEA”) Affidavit must be included with the petition.  If the petition is being filed with the parents’ permission, written, signed, and notarized consents must be provided, unless the parents provide their consents in open court.  If a petitioner is alleging that a parent has abandoned a child, the petitioner must have evidence of abandonment.
    2. Pending Dependency Proceedings:  If a dependency case is pending when a petition for temporary custody has been filed, the Family Law judge may transfer the petition to the Juvenile Dependency Division. Read more

Word Cloud: Section 61.13, Florida Statutes

Sometimes I find it helpful to look at family law issues from a different angle, and hopefully gain a new perspective.  I will be experimenting with this concept by creating word clouds from different statutes, rules, or cases.

Word clouds take the most commonly used terms from a text and resize them according to their frequency of use.

The following word cloud, created using Wordle.net, breaks down section 61.13, Florida Statutes, the main law dealing with child custody orders:

Word Cloud - Section 61.13, Florida Statutes

Word Cloud - Section 61.13, Florida Statutes

If you have questions regarding child custody and wish to schedule a consultation with a family law attorney in Tampa Bay, call The Law Firm of Adam B. Cordover, P.A., at (813) 443-0615.

Blog for The Law Firm of Adam B. Cordover, P.A., Featured In News Clip

Website newsy.com has featured a recent article from ABC Family Law Blog, the official blog of The Law Firm of Adam B. Cordover, P.A., in a news video.  The video discusses the website Cheaterville.com.

ABC Family Law Blog Featured in News Video

ABC Family Law Blog Featured in News Video

 

 

ABC Family Law Blog Featured in News Video

ABC Family Law Blog Featured in News Video

 

Around the 1:30 mark of the video, ABC Family Law Blog is mentioned as follows:

A Florida Family Law Blog is also worried about people abusing the site— going so far as to suggest the site could interfere with custody disputes.  “One of the factors in custody decisions is the ability to facilitate a close relationship between a child and his or her other parent, a scathing post on Cheaterville may be seen by a judge as antithetical to a child’s best interest.”

You can see the whole video at the following link:  http://www.newsy.com/videos/welcome-to-cheaterville-cheaters-beware/.

A Parent’s Handbook for Raising Healthy Teens

Thank you to Uninterrupted TV for providing a link to “Navigating the Teen Years: A Parent’s Handbook for Raising Healthy Teens.”

This pamphlet is written by the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign in cooperation with the American Academy of Pediatrics, National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, National Prevention Network, NYU Child Study Center, and Parent Corps.

Mixed Martial Artist Chuck Liddell Requests “Full Custody” of Child. What Should You Request?

TMZ.com reports that retired mixed martial artist Chuck Liddell requested “full custody” of his child in a California courtroom:

Chuck Liddell Requests "Full Custody"

Chuck Liddell Requests “Full Custody”

Chuck Liddell is in an L.A. courtroom asking a judge for full custody of his son, after the boy allegedly told him he didn’t want to live with his mom anymore.

Sources tell us 12-year-old Cade was visiting Chuck from Colorado, where he lives with [his] mom, Lori Geyer.  Chuck claims the boy was depressed and upset and didn’t want to go back.  And, Chuck says, Cade complained that he was “living with a severe toothache for 2 to 3 months.”

Chuck took Cade to a dentist, but feels his son’s “health and safety are at risk.”

Chuck’s lawyer mentioned in court the boy was allegedly abused by being forced to perform physical labor — including snow removal.

Though I frequently use the term “custody” when explaining family law issues to clients, the fact is that Florida courts no longer rule on “custody.”  Instead, a Florida judge will enter an order concerning “time-sharing” and “parental responsibility.”

Though this may seem like mere semantics, it is important to know what to ask for, and what a judge will grant.

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Special Needs Children and Divorce

California family law attorney Lisa Helfend Meyer recently discussed particular issues that arise in divorce cases involving special needs children:

A parenting plan for the typical child may not be appropriate for an autistic child or one with other developmental issues. For example, it’s not unusual for the typical 3 year-old child to be able to have overnight stays with the non-custodial parent. She can understand the concept of time and that she will see her other parent again. The special-needs child often has difficulty with transitions, she is comforted by the familiar and doesn’t like changes in environment. Likewise, she may not be unable to express herself verbally nor to understand abstract concepts like time. Custody and visitation decisions for a special-needs child must take into account many issues like these.

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Technological Solutions to Shared Parental Responsibility

South Carolina Attorney Megan C. Hunt mentions some online tools available to help facilitate co-parenting:

But the reality is that co-parenting is HARD.  It is difficult for two people who have decided they can’t get along to coordinate schedules, discipline, and all the other details of raising children.

Because co-parenting is so tough (and such situations are so common), there are now services and communities especially for parents who need help.  One such program is Our Family Wizard, which provides a calendar for documenting parenting time, an internal message system for communications with your ex-spouse, the ability to keep a shared or private journal about your children, and a way to share the children’s health, education, and other records.

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What is a Parenting Plan?

According to Section 61.046 of the Florida Statutes:

“Parenting plan” means a document created to govern the relationship between the parents relating to decisions that must be made regarding the minor child and must contain a time-sharing schedule for the parents and child. The issues concerning the minor child may include, but are not limited to, the child’s education, health care, and physical, social, and emotional well-being. In creating the plan, all circumstances between the parents, including their historic relationship, domestic violence, and other factors must be taken into consideration.

(a) The parenting plan must be:

1. Developed and agreed to by the parents and approved by a court; or

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Helping Kids Cope With Divorce

School counselor Leslie King and teacher Daryl Sollerh offer some tips at the Huffington Post on how to help children cope with their parents’ divorce:

First, let’s face it: No one is a saint. No one is immune to the pain, challenges and uncertainties a separation or divorce can visit on a family — especially not children.

So even though mom and dad may be moving through some of the most potentially stressful and sad periods of their own life, they still are somebody’s mom or dad, and must try to find a way to help their child, even if they themselves feel as if they are not getting much help from friends or the world.

Should your child rage, do your best not to take it personally, even when it is directed at you. Try to give yourself the space and time to recognize that they too need to vent their feelings, especially the most gut-wrenching ones. It is better that they release the feelings inside them as best they can, instead of bottling them up, which could prove far more damaging in the long run.

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Dependents and Qualifying Child for Child Tax Credit

The following excerpt from the Instructions for IRS Form 1040 provides information on whether a non-custodial parent (a parent with whom a child resides less than half of the year) qualifies for the Child Tax Credit (after the jump):

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