Florida doesn’t automatically give every parent an equal schedule. The state’s equal time-sharing presumption is a legal starting point, not a one-size-fits-all court order.
Florida Statute 61.13 presumes that equal time-sharing is in a minor child’s best interests unless the law provides otherwise or the parents reach a different agreement. After more than two decades of family law advocacy, I have seen how a child’s routine, safety, school needs, and each parent’s ability to follow a workable schedule remain central to the decision.
How Florida’s Equal Time-Sharing Presumption Works
A rebuttable presumption means the court begins with an assumption that evidence can overcome. Here, the court starts from the position that equal time-sharing serves the child.
Florida’s policy supports frequent and continuing contact between children and both parents after separation or divorce. Still, equal time-sharing isn’t automatic or limited to an alternating-week schedule. The court-approved parenting plan governs parental decisions and establishes the child’s schedule.
- An equal schedule might involve alternating weeks, a 2-2-3 rotation, or another calendar that gives each parent comparable overnight time.
- Parents can agree to a different schedule, subject to court approval.
- A judge can order a different schedule when the evidence shows that equal time wouldn’t promote the child’s welfare.
The presumption took effect in 2023. Florida law previously stated that there was no presumption for or against a particular time-sharing schedule.
Time-Sharing & Parental Decision-Making Are Separate
Time-sharing determines when the child is with each parent. Parental responsibility determines who makes major decisions about education, health care, and other important issues affecting the child.
Shared parental responsibility generally means that parents share decision-making authority. It doesn’t require an equal overnight schedule, just as equal time-sharing doesn’t settle how parents will make decisions together. A parenting plan should address both subjects, including exchanges, school breaks, communication, and methods for resolving disagreements.
Florida Statute 61.13 allows a court to order sole parental responsibility when shared decision-making would be detrimental to the child. The court must consider evidence of domestic violence or child abuse as evidence of detriment, even without a criminal conviction or injunction.
How Courts Evaluate an Equal Schedule
A parent seeking a different schedule must show, by a preponderance of the evidence, that equal time-sharing isn’t in the child’s best interests. This standard means the evidence shows that a fact is more likely true than not.
When creating or modifying a schedule, the court must evaluate the applicable best-interest factors in Florida Statute 61.13. Unless it approves the parents’ agreement, the court must make specific written factual findings supporting its decision.
Useful evidence connects the proposed schedule to the child’s daily welfare. Relevant circumstances often include:
- Each parent’s ability to encourage the child’s relationship with the other parent.
- The practical distance between homes, school, child care, and activities.
- The child’s established home, school, and community routine.
- Each parent’s physical and mental health as it affects parenting.
- Evidence of violence, abuse, abandonment, neglect, or other safety concerns.
Texts, school records, calendars, medical information, and reliable witness testimony can show how a proposed schedule would affect the child. A parent’s frustration with the other parent, standing alone, isn’t evidence that a particular schedule fails to serve the child.
Equal Time-Sharing Doesn’t Eliminate Child Support
Equal overnights don’t automatically eliminate child support. Florida’s guidelines consider both parents’ net incomes, the time-sharing arrangement, and certain costs for the child.
The time-sharing adjustment applies when each parent has at least 20 percent of the annual overnights with each child. For substantial time-sharing arrangements, Florida Statute 61.30 uses a formula that accounts for each parent’s support obligation, a 1.5 multiplier, and the other parent’s percentage of overnights. Day care and health insurance costs are handled separately in that calculation.
One parent can still pay support when incomes differ or the other parent pays more qualifying expenses. Parenting time should reflect the child’s needs and a schedule both parents can carry out, not an attempt to avoid support.
When an Existing Time-Sharing Order Can Change
A final parenting plan doesn’t change simply because one parent prefers a different schedule. In Florida, a parent seeking modification must show a substantial and material change in circumstances, and the requested change must serve the child’s best interests.
One statutory example applies when parents lived more than 50 miles apart at the time of the last time-sharing order and one later moves within 50 miles of the other. That move may qualify as a substantial and material change if modification would benefit the child. Other major changes in living arrangements or a child’s needs may warrant legal review, but the evidence must support the requested modification.
Parents should continue following the existing court order unless they obtain a court-approved agreement or a new order. When a parent improperly denies ordered time-sharing without proper cause, Florida Statute 61.13 requires the court to calculate the time denied and award sufficient makeup time-sharing at the noncompliant parent’s expense.
Preparing for a Polk County Time-Sharing Case
Custody issues connected to divorce and paternity cases in Polk County are handled in the Circuit Court of the Tenth Judicial Circuit. The statewide presumption applies, but the court’s decision turns on the child-specific evidence and proposed schedule before it.
Before mediation, negotiation, or a court hearing, organize:
- The current schedule and existing court orders.
- Communication records.
- School and activity calendars.
- Expenses for the child.
- Concerns affecting the child’s routine or safety.
Building a Workable Schedule
A useful plan does more than divide overnights. It should address:
- Exchange locations and times.
- Holiday and summer schedules.
- Transportation responsibilities.
- Methods of communication between parents.
- Access to school and medical records.
- How major decisions will be made.
Reviewing Problems Early
Questions about relocation, missed exchanges, safety issues, or a proposed schedule are easier to evaluate before a conflict becomes entrenched. The appropriate approach depends on the current order, living arrangements, available evidence, and the individual child’s needs.
I handle child custody matters involving divorce, separation, and paternity disputes for parents in Polk, Hillsborough, and Osceola County, guiding them through drafting, negotiation, mediation, enforcement, and modification. For guidance tailored to your situation, contact Advocate Law Firm, P.A. at (863) 644-5566.