Child custody disputes can arise during divorce or long after. At Lebron Law, PLLC, our experienced attorneys prioritize your rights and your children’s well-being. With decades of experience, we’re here to help you achieve the best outcome. Contact an experienced Kissimmee child custody lawyer at (321) 800-5195 for a free consultation!
When you have a child with someone, you are forced to deal with that person while your child is a minor to ensure your child’s needs are met. Having an experienced Kissimmee child custody lawyer represent you and your child during the process can help you obtain the best possible outcome in a child custody case.
Our legal team puts your children’s best interests first. We fight to protect your parental rights and your children’s well-being. Our Kissimmee family law attorneys have decades of experience handling complex child custody matters. We understand the emotional nature of child custody cases and what is at stake for the outcome of the case.
Contact us to schedule a confidential consultation today.
How Our Kissimmee Family Law Attorneys Can Help You With a Child Custody Matter in Florida
It can be incredibly challenging to co-parent a child after a separation or divorce. However, it can be equally challenging to negotiate a feasible parenting plan and visitation schedule. Your child’s other parent may be unreasonable or want to punish you by using your child. That is where having an experienced, aggressive Kissimmee child custody lawyer can help.
At Lebron Law, PLLC, we fiercely advocate for you and your child. When you hire our law firm to handle your child custody case, you benefit from decades of experience and knowledge. You can trust we will do everything possible to obtain the outcome you desire, including:
- Listen to you to learn more about you and your children
- Explain Florida child custody laws and how those laws apply in your case
- Help you prioritize the matters that are most important to you for a child custody agreement
- Prepare a parenting plan that protects your child’s best interests and your parental rights
- Advocate for solutions and resolutions achieved through mediation and private settlement negotiations
- Thoroughly investigate all allegations of parental alienation, child abuse, negligence, and other issues that could negatively impact your children
- Handle all negotiations and discussions with your ex and their attorney
- Prepare and file all documents and paperwork with the court
- Take your case to trial and aggressively argue your position to the judge
Attorney Michele Lebron is considered a leading child custody lawyer in Florida. She has top ratings from numerous national and local organizations, including Florida Trend’s Legal Elite and Super Lawyers Rising Stars.
At Lebron Law, PLLC, we aim to achieve a child custody arrangement that works best for everyone while protecting you and your children. Call us today to schedule a confidential consultation with our Kissimmee, Florida, family law attorneys.
Overview of Child Custody Laws in Florida
In Florida, child custody involves parental responsibility and timesharing. Parental responsibility deals with decision-making for the child, which can be shared decision-making, sole decision-making, or ultimate decision-making over certain issues such as medical or educational needs. Timesharing deals with the number of overnights the child spends with each parent.
Courts lean toward awarding timesharing to ensure both parents can play an active role in their child’s upbringing. However, the court may grant sole custody to one parent if there is evidence of abuse, neglect, or other conduct by another parent that could be detrimental to the child.
How Do Florida Courts Decide Child Custody Matters?
The primary concern for courts is the best interest of a child. Judges make all custody decisions based on what is in the child’s best interest. Even when parents present a proposed parenting agreement, a judge reviews the terms to ensure that the agreement is in the child’s best interest. A judge may change the agreed-upon custody terms if they believe the terms contradict the child’s best interest.
Florida law requires judges to consider several factors when determining what is in a child’s best interest. Those factors include:
- Parental Capacity and Conduct:
- Each parent’s ability and willingness to foster a strong parent-child bond.
- Respect for the time-sharing schedule and flexibility for adjustments.
- Prioritizing the child’s needs over their own.
- Providing a stable and consistent environment for the child.
- Moral fitness, mental and physical health of the parents.
- Parenting Plan and Logistics:
- The division of parental responsibilities after litigation, including involvement of third parties.
- The practicality of the parenting plan, considering travel time and school needs.
- Each parent’s awareness of the child’s circumstances, friends, activities, etc.
- Ability to provide a consistent routine for the child.
- Open communication and cooperation between parents.
- Child’s Well-being and Preferences:
- The child’s home, school, and community record.
- The child’s reasonable preference, if mature enough to express one.
- Each parent’s involvement in the child’s school and extracurriculars.
- Maintenance of a substance-free environment.
- Shielding the child from the litigation process.
- Understanding and meeting the child’s developmental needs.
- Safety and Legal Considerations:
- Any history of domestic violence, abuse, or neglect.
- Honesty and transparency in court proceedings.
- Additional Factors:
- Past division of parenting tasks.
- Any other relevant factors.
Judges may consider any factor they believe is relevant to determining the best interests of the child. For example, a judge may consider a child’s reasonable preference for custody matters if the child has the experience, understanding, and intelligence to decide.
Negotiating a Parenting Plan in a Kissimmee Child Custody Case
Parents are required to have a parenting plan that sets forth how they will divide parenting responsibilities and share time with their children. The courts use parenting plans, parenting responsibility, and time-sharing to help determine custody and visitation.
A parenting plan may include numerous provisions for child custody. However, it must include:
- Detailed description of how daily parenting tasks will be shared.
- Specific time-sharing schedule outlining when the child will be with each parent.
- Clarity on who makes health care decisions, including mental health treatment, unless specified otherwise.
- Designation of the parent responsible for school-related matters, including address for school boundary and registration.
- Specification of who will be responsible for other child-related activities.
- A detailed explanation of the methods and technologies (e.g., phone calls, video calls, messaging apps) parents will use to communicate with the child.
Parenting plans and time-sharing schedules may be strictly structured or more generally defined. However, the judge must find that the terms are in the children’s best interests to approve the custody arrangements.
Generally, parents can agree on equal time-sharing or a majority/minority arrangement. In an equal time-sharing arrangement, the parents split physical custody as evenly as possible. In a 50/50 agreement, the child may spend alternating weeks with each parent, or the child might spend three days this week and four days next week with a parent. The goal is for the child to spend equal time with each parent.
Parents may work out a visitation schedule that works best for the family, such as:
- Spending alternating weekends and one night a week with one parent
- Staying with one parent during the week and spending the weekend with the other parent
- Staying with one parent during the school year and living with the other parent during summer vacation
- Spending specific nights during the week with one parent
Visitation schedules should also include how parents divide holidays, school breaks, and special occasions with their children.
Creating a parenting plan and time-sharing arrangement can be challenging, even when parents agree to be reasonable and put their children’s needs first. At Lebron Law, PLLC, our Kissimmee child custody lawyers advocate for your children to help you develop a plan that limits conflict and disruption to your child’s life.
We strive to help you design a parenting plan that accommodates the entire family’s needs. We help you develop a schedule that allows your children to spend as much time as possible with each parent, providing it is in their best interest to spend time with their other parent.
Can Child Custody Agreements Be Modified in Florida?
There could be circumstances that arise requiring the courts to modify child custody agreements. Courts use a two-prong test to determine whether a timesharing schedule can be modified. First, there has to be a material, substantial change in circumstances since the final judgment was entered. Second, a change in timesharing must be in the best interests of the child.
Reasons a parent may petition the court to modify child custody include, but are not limited to:
- The needs of the child have changed
- The current arrangement is not working and benefiting the child’s best interest
- A parent is relocating
- A parent relocates to within 50 miles of where the majority timesharing parent resides
The parent requesting the modification in custody terms must prove that a substantial change in circumstances warrants a change in the custody arrangement. They must also prove to the court that the proposed changes in custody are in the child’s best interest.
Our Kissimmee child custody lawyers can help you petition the court to modify custody terms. If necessary, we will litigate the matter in court.
Schedule a Confidential Consultation With Our Kissimmee Child Custody Attorneys
Call Lebron Law, PLLC, to speak with an attorney at our law firm in Kissimmee if you have questions about child custody matters. The first step in protecting your children during a custody case is to hire an experienced Kissimmee child custody lawyer. Let us help you do what is best for your children.
Visit Our Family & Divorce Law Firm in Kissimmee, FL
Lebron Law, PLLC
15 S Orlando Ave, Kissimmee, FL 34741, United States
(321) 800-5195
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