There recently were major changes to how the Florida courts handle the custody of minor children. In the past, the law referred to a primary residential parent and a secondary parent. The secondary parent was entitled to "visitation."
The labels created problems. The “secondary parent” would often feel like a second class parent.
It was clear the legislature needed to do something to mitigate this war on semantics. In 2008, Chapter 61 of the Florida Statutes which governs divorce law in Florida, was substantially modified.
The law now refers to child custody and visitation using the term “time-sharing.” The ”primary residential parent”, is now referred to as having “the majority of overnights.” Parenting Plans are used now to determine when the child(ren) will stay with each parent to determine who makes the final decisions.
The labels created problems. The “secondary parent” would often feel like a second class parent.
It was clear the legislature needed to do something to mitigate this war on semantics. In 2008, Chapter 61 of the Florida Statutes which governs divorce law in Florida, was substantially modified.
The law now refers to child custody and visitation using the term “time-sharing.” The ”primary residential parent”, is now referred to as having “the majority of overnights.” Parenting Plans are used now to determine when the child(ren) will stay with each parent to determine who makes the final decisions.
In creating the Parenting Plan, and time-sharing schedule, the Court, among many factors, considers the best interest of the children. Follow this link to learn more about the factors to determine a Parenting Plan and time-sharing.
In summation, child custody and time-sharing mean the same according to Florida law. Custody was simply a term to word to describe who had the minor children the majority of the time. Now, the parents have a Parenting Plan establishing when the child will be with each parent.
