Florida Parenting Plans

Every Florida case that involves minor children -- whether a divorce, a paternity action, or a stand-alone time-sharing case -- must include a written parenting plan. Florida Statutes § 61.13(2)(b) makes the parenting plan mandatory, and the court will not enter a final judgment without one. The plan can be negotiated and submitted as agreed, or, if the parents cannot agree, the court will enter one after trial.

Required Provisions

Florida Statutes § 61.13(2)(b)2 requires every parenting plan to address, at a minimum:

• A description of how the parents will share and be responsible for the daily tasks associated with raising the child
• The time-sharing schedule, including weekdays, weekends, holidays, school breaks, and summer
• A designation of who is responsible for healthcare, school-related matters, and other activities
• The methods and technologies the parents will use to communicate with the child

The Florida Supreme Court has published mandatory parenting plan forms (Family Law Form 12.995(a) for cases without time-sharing limitations, 12.995(b) for safety-focused plans, and 12.995(c) for plans with relocation/long-distance provisions). Most agreed plans build on Form 12.995(a) with additional negotiated provisions.

Time-Sharing Schedule Details

A complete schedule addresses much more than the regular weekly rotation. We routinely draft provisions for:

• Holiday rotation -- Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, Easter, July 4, Mother's Day, Father's Day, the child's birthday, and each parent's birthday
• School breaks -- spring break, winter break, summer schedule
• Religious holidays -- both parents' faith traditions, where applicable
• Travel and vacation -- advance notice requirements, itinerary requirements, and how long a vacation block can be
• Right of first refusal -- whether a parent who is unavailable for a portion of their time must offer it to the other parent before using a third-party caregiver
• Transportation responsibility and meeting locations

Decision-Making Authority

The plan must specify how decisions about the child's education, non-emergency healthcare, religious upbringing, and extracurricular activities will be made. Most plans require the parents to confer and reach agreement. If gridlock is foreseeable on a particular issue, the plan can designate ultimate decision-making authority to one parent on that specific issue, while leaving the rest as joint decisions.

Communication

The plan typically addresses how the parents will communicate with each other and how each parent will communicate with the child during the other parent's time. Many plans require communication through a co-parenting app such as OurFamilyWizard, AppClose, or TalkingParents -- which provide a tamper-resistant record that can be used in court if disputes arise.

Parent Education Course

Under Florida Statutes § 61.21, both parents in any case involving time-sharing must complete a court-approved Parent Education and Family Stabilization Course within 45 days of service. The certificate must be filed before the final judgment is entered.

Shared Parental Responsibility as the Statutory Default

The parenting plan must also identify how legal decision-making authority is allocated between the parents. Under Florida Statutes § 61.13(2)(c), shared parental responsibility is the default. The court must order shared parental responsibility unless it makes a written finding, on competent and substantial evidence, that shared responsibility would be detrimental to the child. Under § 61.13(2)(c)2, a conviction for misdemeanor domestic violence (or a higher charge involving violence) creates a rebuttable presumption that shared parental responsibility is detrimental. Sole parental responsibility is the exception, not the rule, and the trial court must spell out the detriment finding in the final judgment so the order can survive appellate review.

When the parents share responsibility, the plan should still anticipate areas where deadlock is likely. Florida courts routinely approve plans that vest one parent with ultimate decision-making authority on a discrete topic -- for example, the child's school choice, the choice of pediatrician, or whether the child will participate in a particular religious practice -- while leaving all other major decisions joint. That hybrid approach reduces the need for emergency motions when the parents simply cannot agree on a single issue.

Choosing the Right Form: Local vs. Long-Distance

The Florida Supreme Court has approved three template parenting plans. Form 12.995(a) is the standard plan used when both parents live in or near the same county. Form 12.995(c) is the long-distance/relocation plan used when the parents already live far apart, or when one parent intends to move out of the county or state. Form 12.995(b) is the safety-focused plan used in cases involving domestic violence, substance abuse, or child welfare concerns. Choosing the right starting template is not cosmetic. A long-distance plan must address summer blocks, school breaks, transportation cost-sharing, the cost of airline tickets for unaccompanied minors, and virtual contact in a way that a local plan does not.

Decision-Making on Specific Topics

Generic language about "non-emergency healthcare" or "education" is one of the most common drafting errors we see in plans signed without counsel. The more specific the plan, the less courtroom time the parents will spend later. We routinely include separate provisions for:

• Education. Which school the child will attend, who selects tutors, whether the child can be enrolled in private school, who pays application fees and tuition, and how the parents will handle IEP and 504 meetings.
• Non-emergency medical and dental care. Which providers the parents will use, how prescriptions will be communicated, and how mental-health treatment decisions will be made. The plan should clarify that either parent may authorize emergency treatment.
• Religion. Which religion (or religions) the child will be raised in, whether the child will attend services with each parent, and how sacraments, baptisms, or confirmations will be handled.
• Extracurricular activities. How activities are selected, who pays registration and equipment fees, and the rule for transporting the child to activities that occur during the other parent's time-sharing.
• Technology. Whether the child will have a phone, who pays for it, screen-time rules, and whether either parent may monitor the device.

Right of First Refusal

A right-of-first-refusal clause requires a parent who will be unavailable for a defined block of time during their time-sharing -- often four hours, eight hours, or overnight -- to offer that block to the other parent before using a babysitter, family member, or daycare. The clause should specify the trigger time, the deadline by which the offer must be made and accepted, and the rule for transportation. Used wisely, it maximizes parental contact. Drafted carelessly, it becomes a constant source of accusations that one parent left the child with a step-parent or grandparent without offering the time to the other parent. The clause is optional, not statutory, and the court will not impose one absent agreement unless there is a child-specific reason to do so.

Parent-Child Communication During the Other Parent's Time

The plan should also describe how a parent communicates with the child while the child is with the other parent. Reasonable, age-appropriate phone or video calls -- for example, a brief call each evening at a set time -- support the child's relationship with both households. Restrictions that operate as a screen for parental control of the conversation are disfavored. For older children, the plan can simply provide that the child may contact either parent reasonably and that neither parent will interfere.

Transportation, Exchanges, and Logistics

Time-sharing disputes more often arise at the exchange than during the time-sharing itself. The plan should identify the exchange location (a school, a neutral public place, or one parent's residence), the time of exchange, who provides transportation in each direction, and the rule for grace periods and late arrivals. Where conflict is high, exchanges can be scheduled at a Miami-Dade Police Department lobby, a fire station, or a supervised exchange center. Cost-sharing for airfare, mileage, or unaccompanied-minor fees should be allocated by formula rather than left to good faith.

Holidays, School Breaks, and Summer

A typical Florida holiday rotation alternates Thanksgiving, the two halves of winter break, spring break, Mother's Day, Father's Day, the child's birthday, and each parent's birthday on an annual basis. Religious holidays for both faith traditions can be slotted in. For summer, parents commonly choose between (a) maintaining the regular schedule with extended vacation blocks (one to two weeks per parent, with advance notice), or (b) flipping the school-year schedule so the lesser-time-sharing parent receives the majority of summer overnights. The plan should also state how the holiday schedule supersedes the regular schedule when they conflict -- holidays almost always control.

Introducing New Partners

Many parents wish to limit when and how the child is introduced to a new romantic partner. The court will rarely impose such a restriction over objection, but the parents are free to agree to one -- for example, no overnight stays by a non-relative romantic partner while the child is present until the relationship is at least six months old, or no introduction of a new partner to the child until the partner has met the other parent. These clauses are enforceable like any other parenting-plan term once incorporated into a final judgment.

Substance-Abuse and Safety Provisions

If one parent has a history of substance abuse, the plan can require abstention during time-sharing, periodic drug or alcohol testing through a service such as Soberlink or SoftCup, supervised time-sharing during specified phases, and graduated steps toward unsupervised contact based on negative test results. Where domestic violence is in the background, the plan should set out non-disparagement language, restrictions on third-party presence at exchanges, and clear protective-injunction carve-outs so the parenting plan and any injunction operate in harmony.

Travel, Passports, and Notarized Consent

Florida parents routinely travel internationally with children. The parenting plan should specify whether each parent may apply for and hold the child's passport, how the passport will be exchanged for trips, advance-notice requirements for international travel (typically 30 to 60 days), the form of notarized consent required for the other parent's trips, and whether the child may travel to countries that are not signatories to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. Miami's international population makes these provisions especially important; a Hague-non-signatory destination raises the risk of wrongful retention, and a well-drafted plan addresses that risk before it materializes.

Dispute Resolution: Parenting Coordinators and Mediation

Even a careful plan will produce day-to-day disputes. Florida Statutes § 61.125 authorizes the court to appoint a parenting coordinator -- a neutral, qualified professional who helps the parents implement the plan, makes non-binding recommendations, and in limited circumstances may resolve minor disputes (such as which extracurricular activity the child will attend) without returning the parties to court. Parenting coordination is not appropriate in cases involving a substantial history of domestic violence unless both parties consent and the coordinator is qualified to address the safety concerns. Mediation is also routinely required by local administrative order in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit before any contested hearing on parenting issues.

Enforcement and Modification

A parenting plan, once incorporated into a final judgment, is a binding court order enforceable by contempt. Florida Statutes § 61.13(4)(c) gives the trial court a robust enforcement toolbox when a parent unreasonably withholds court-ordered time-sharing. Remedies include awarding make-up time-sharing, requiring the offending parent to attend a parenting course, ordering community service, imposing a civil-contempt purge amount, requiring posting of a bond, modifying the plan to favor the parent who lost time, and awarding the prevailing party's reasonable attorney's fees and costs. Modification of the underlying plan, by contrast, requires a showing of a substantial, material, and unanticipated change in circumstances, plus a finding that modification is in the child's best interests. This heightened standard prevents frequent relitigation and is the principal reason that careful drafting at the outset matters.

Why Specificity Matters

The most common mistake parents make in a self-drafted plan is leaving terms vague to "preserve flexibility." In practice, vague terms create the very disputes they were meant to avoid. "Reasonable telephone contact" does not say at what hour. "Mutual agreement on extracurriculars" does not say what happens when there is no agreement. "Cost-sharing of travel" does not say in what proportion. A parenting plan is read literally by a judge two or three years later, often after the parents stop trusting each other. The plan that anticipates likely flashpoints -- holidays, makeups, new partners, school choice, summer -- prevents litigation. The plan that papers over them invites it.

Call 786-522-1411 to draft, negotiate, enforce, or modify a Florida parenting plan.