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How does the court determine a parenting plan?

When Tampa family law attorneys are asked about this specific issue, the parties are generally concerned about time-sharing issues, not the other multitude of issues discussed in a parenting plan, so our blog article will focus on that particular issue.  In short, the court bases its entire calculation, determination, and analysis on this issue, on what is in the best interest of the child/children. We understand this is a daunting analysis, but the good news is, this provides the court a significant amount of flexibility to determine and consider evidence in any case concerning a parenting plan.

The Court is provided an incredible amount of deference to truly look at the unique facts and circumstances of each case and determine who should have the child the majority of the time. For example, the court will consider factors including, but not limited to, the party’s ability to maintain a consistent routine for the minor child, domestic violence issues between the parties and children, false reports to law enforcement and the Department of Children and Families concerning domestic violence and/or child abuse, the moral fitness of the parents, the ability of the parents to maintain a loving relationship with the other parent, encouraging the minor child to do so, the ability of the parents to continue to maintain the plan provided by the court and their ability to make reasonable changes to compromise with the other party, etc.  As you can see this analysis truly offers the Court a significant number of different factors to consider.  For an entire list of the factors, we provided a direct link to Florida Statute Section 61.13.

As you can see, the court can literally consider any factor which your Tampa time-sharing attorney can argue is reasonable and should be considered. In our experience, we have had the opportunity to argue about criminal convictions being relevant, prior drug use being relevant, the parent’s new boyfriend/girlfriend being relevant, given their prior criminal convictions and their time around the minor child, et cetera. We understand this is daunting and somewhat overwhelming, but think of it as an opportunity to truly look out for your child’s best interest, rather than being focused on trying to squeeze and force a few factors into strict descriptions in the law.  Our family law attorneys will work on getting all the evidence needed before the Court.

Any evidentiary hearing before a court concerning time-sharing is obviously very complex, lengthy, and incredibly fact-specific, given the wide variety of things, the Court has to consider. This is why it is absolutely critical to follow your Tampa time-sharing attorney’s advice regarding the collection and recording of evidence, because the court will consider those factors that we can deem relevant. Again, the opportunities are nearly endless as to what an attorney can admit in a time-sharing evidentiary hearing to work on protecting your rights, and more importantly, the rights of your minor child/children.

If you have questions about how a time-sharing hearing plan is developed, contact the Tampa time-sharing attorneys of Hackworth Law for a free case consultation. We’ve handled hundreds of family law cases across the entire Tampa Bay area, and look forward to hearing from you  If you would like to contact one of our Tampa family law attorneys immediately, please use “contact us now” tab in the upper right hand corner of our website.  We appreciate you taking the time to check out our blog and look forward to working with you.