In Florida, no document matters more to a divorcing or separating parent than the parenting plan. It is not a suggestion or a starting point — it is a court order that will govern where your children sleep, who decides their school and doctor, and how you and your co-parent communicate, for years. The Law Office of John Vernon Moore, P.A. drafts, negotiates, and litigates parenting plans throughout Brevard County. Here is what every Florida parent should know.
What Florida Requires in Every Plan
Under Florida Statute § 61.13, a parenting plan must, at minimum: describe in detail how the parents will share daily parenting responsibilities; specify the time-sharing schedule — the actual calendar of overnights, including holidays and summer; designate who decides (or how parents jointly decide) education, health care, and other major issues; state which address controls for school registration; and set the methods and technologies the parents will use to communicate with the child and each other. Courts must approve every plan, agreed or not, against the child’s best interests.
The Equal Time-Sharing Presumption
Since 2023, Florida law presumes that equal time-sharing is in the child’s best interests. The presumption is rebuttable — a parent seeking a different schedule must prove, by a preponderance of evidence tied to the § 61.13 best-interests factors, why equal time is not appropriate. Practically, this reframed every negotiation: 50/50 is the starting point, and departures need reasons — distance between homes, work schedules that cannot accommodate the rotation, a child’s special needs, or safety concerns. Our page on equal time-sharing covers the presumption in depth.
Schedules That Actually Work
The best schedule is the one your real life can execute. Common equal rotations: week-on/week-off (simplest, best for older children), 2-2-3 (no long gaps, popular for younger children, exchange-heavy), and 2-2-5-5 (consistent weekdays, alternating weekends). Around Brevard, geography drives feasibility — a Melbourne-to-Titusville commute makes mid-week exchanges brutal, while parents in the same school zone can run almost any rotation. Holiday schedules override the regular rotation and should be spelled out to the hour: winter break split or alternated, Thanksgiving, spring break, Mother’s and Father’s Day, birthdays — plus how holiday travel and relocation rules interact.
Decision-Making: Shared, Sole, and Ultimate
Time-sharing is where children are; parental responsibility is who decides. Florida strongly favors shared parental responsibility — joint decisions on major issues. Where parents deadlock chronically on one subject, courts can award one parent ultimate decision-making authority over that specific area (say, education) while keeping everything else shared. Sole parental responsibility is reserved for cases where shared decision-making would harm the child. Getting this architecture right prevents years of conflict — vague plans send parents back to court; precise ones answer the argument before it starts.
The Clauses Experience Teaches Us to Include
Beyond the statutory minimums, strong plans anticipate the predictable fights: a right of first refusal (offering the other parent time before a babysitter, defined by hours so it cannot be weaponized); exchange logistics — where, when, who drives; communication rules (a co-parenting app for everything, which keeps records and lowers temperature); travel consent and passports; new-partner introductions; make-up time; and a dispute-resolution step (mediation before motions). Every clause is a future argument settled in advance at drafting prices instead of litigation prices.
When Plans Need to Change — or Be Enforced
Children grow and circumstances shift; plans can be modified on a substantial, material, and unanticipated change in circumstances — a standard with real teeth, covered on our modification page. And when a parent simply ignores the plan — withheld weekends, unilateral decisions — Florida provides enforcement through contempt and make-up time-sharing. A parenting plan is only as good as its enforceability; we draft with the courtroom in mind so you rarely need the courtroom.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can we write our own parenting plan?
You can agree to terms — courts encourage it — but the plan must satisfy § 61.13 and be approved by the judge. Most homemade plans fail on specificity, which is precisely where future conflict lives. Attorney drafting on an agreed plan is fast and inexpensive relative to one post-judgment fight.
What if we live in different school zones?
The plan must designate the address that controls school registration — one of the most consequential and contested single provisions. It deserves deliberate negotiation, not a default.
At what age can my child have a say?
A child’s reasonable preference is a factor courts may weigh with age and maturity — but no age gives a child the decision, and judges rarely take testimony from children.
My co-parent and I get along. Do we still need all this detail?
Yes — detail is what keeps you getting along. Plans govern worst days, not best ones, and the cooperative families who skip specificity are the ones back in court when cooperation frays.
Get the Document Right the First Time
Our team brings over 89 years of combined experience to parenting plans that hold up — in real life and in court. Call (321) 529-7777 or contact us online for a free 30-minute consultation.