Lakeland Family Lawyer

Let me preface by saying I am not a child psychologist--I am just a lawyer. I came across this article in the Huffington Post yesterday and I paused.  In my job, I work with parents who underneath it all, want what is best for their children. But sometimes, because of their own hurt and anger, they get sidetracked and lose sight of that.  This article demonstrates what happens to children when parents lose sight of putting their children first and start nitpicking about material things, such as items of clothing.  Children end up living out of suitcases.     In Florida, the best interest of the child is always the primary standard used when it comes to determining time-sharing .  Judges will also look to other factors such as: 1. The moral fitness of the parents. 2. The mental and physical health of the parents. 3. The demonstrated capacity and disposition of each parent to facilitate and encourage a close and continuing parent-child relationship...

You may have heard the term "shared parental responsibility" when it comes to child custody. This doctrine means that each parent keeps full parental rights and responsibilities with respect to the child and both parents must communicate with each other so that major decisions affecting the welfare of the child will be determined jointly. Examples of decisions that are typically subject to shared parental responsibility include decisions concerning the child's daycare, healthcare, school, education, summer camps, and activities.  A Florida family law attorney would explain that many courts take the view that day-to-day decisions, such as bedtimes, diet, exercise, clothing, and choice of friends, are not subject to shared parental responsibility in normal cases.  Extreme circumstances regarding certain day-to-day decisions may justify a court getting involved.  Courts frequently take differing views regarding religion, allowing each parent to expose a child to the pa...