Jupiter Timesharing Lawyer
In Florida, custody is divided into two separate categories: timesharing and parental responsibility. The former refers to how much time each parent spends with his or her child according to the parenting plan, while the latter involves the division of responsibility for making important decisions about the child’s healthcare, education, and religion. While courts generally prefer to award equal responsibility for decision making, how parenting time is shared will vary depending on the family’s particular circumstances. To learn more about timesharing in Florida or for help coming up with a parenting plan that is in your child’s best interests, consider reaching out to an experienced Jupiter timesharing lawyer today.
Best Interests of the Child Standard
When deciding how to divide timesharing between two parents, courts are directed to take a child’s best interests into consideration. This includes:
- How long the child has lived in his or her current home;
- The distance between the parents’ homes;
- Each parent’s physical and mental health;
- The child’s home, school, and community record;
- Whether the parents can personally provide the child’s care, or will need to delegate responsibility to a third party;
- Each parent’s capability and willingness to stay informed about the child’s daily activities, friends, teachers, and medical providers;
- The reasonable preference of the child;
- The child’s development stage and needs; and
- The parenting tasks that were usually performed by each parent prior to litigation.
As a part of its deliberation, the court may also require each parent to show his or her ability to provide the child with a consistent routine, to oversee and facilitate the completion of homework,
to provide adequate meals, and to be present for bedtime activities.
Common Timesharing Schedules
The specific parenting plan that a family comes up with will depend on their unique circumstances. There are, however, a few kinds of standard schedules that many parents choose to utilize, including:
- The alternating week schedule, which allows each parent to spend seven days with the child;
- The 3-4-4-3 schedule, which allows a child to spend three days with one parent and then four days with the other parent, until the next week, when the arrangement is switched; or
- The 2-2-5-5 schedule, which allows a child to spend two days with one parent, followed by two days with the other parent and then five days with the first parent and five days with the other parent.
All of these schedules are based on an equal timesharing arrangement, where both parents have roughly the same amount of time with their child. If this type of schedule isn’t possible, a family could choose a 60/40 arrangement that allows a child to spend weekdays with one parent and a long weekend with the other. Alternatively, the every weekend schedule, which is a 70/30 arrangement allows a child to spend weekdays with one parent and a weekend with the other. Under an 80/20 arrangement, a child would live primarily with one parent and visit the other on alternating weekends.
Call a Jupiter Timesharing Lawyer
Making a timesharing arrangement work successfully is largely dependent on having an agreement that is customized to fit your family’s needs and goals. Please contact our firm by calling 561-288-0548 to schedule an appointment with experienced and compassionate Jupiter timesharing lawyer Caroline Olson, P.A. today.
