Co-Parenting in Florida: What the Law Requires and What Your Children Actually Need
When a relationship ends and children are involved, the legal process is only one part of what lies ahead. The other part — the longer, harder, more personal part — is learning to co-parent. In Florida, co-parenting is not simply a preference or a parenting philosophy. It is a legal framework, built into every parenting plan, that carries real obligations and real consequences when those obligations are ignored.
This article is intended for parents who are navigating a dissolution of marriage or paternity case in Florida, and who want to understand both what the law requires of them and what research and experience tell us actually serves their children.
What Florida Law Requires
Shared Parental Responsibility Is the Default
Under Florida Statute §61.13, shared parental responsibility is the presumptive standard in Florida. This means that absent a specific finding that shared parental responsibility would be detrimental to the child, both parents are expected to retain full parental rights and responsibilities — including joint decision-making on major issues such as education, healthcare, and religious upbringing.
This is not a suggestion. It is the starting point for every parenting plan in Florida, and departing from it requires either agreement of the parties or a court finding supported by evidence.
Equal Timesharing Is Now Presumed
As of July 1, 2023, Florida law was amended to create a rebuttable presumption in favor of equal timesharing. This means that when a court is determining a parenting plan, it begins from the position that each parent should have approximately equal time with the child. A parent seeking a different arrangement bears the burden of demonstrating why equal timesharing would not be in the child’s best interest.
This shift reflects what decades of research have consistently shown: children generally fare better when they have meaningful, ongoing relationships with both parents.
A Parenting Plan Is Mandatory
In every Florida case involving minor children — whether it is a dissolution of marriage or a paternity action — the parties are required to have an approved parenting plan. That plan must address, at minimum:
- How the parents will share and be responsible for the daily tasks associated with raising the child;
- The time-sharing schedule, including holidays, school breaks, and special occasions;
- Designation of which parent will be responsible for healthcare, school-related matters, and other activities; and
- How the parents will communicate with each other and with the child during the other parent’s timesharing.
A parenting plan is a court order. Violating it carries consequences, including potential modification of timesharing, contempt findings, and attorney’s fee awards.
The Best Interest Standard Governs Everything
Every decision a Florida court makes regarding children is governed by the best interest of the child standard, as set forth in §61.13(3). The statute enumerates twenty factors the court must consider, including the demonstrated capacity of each parent to facilitate and support a close parent-child relationship with the other parent, the mental and physical health of the parents, the child’s adjustment to home, school, and community, and any history of domestic violence or substance abuse.
Notably, the statute specifically considers a parent’s willingness to honor the timesharing schedule and to be reasonable when changes are requested. Courts pay attention to which parent facilitates the relationship with the other — and which one does not.
What Your Children Actually Need
The legal framework tells you what you must do. What follows is what experience and research tell us actually makes a difference for children whose parents are no longer together.
Keep the Child Out of the Middle
This sounds obvious. It rarely is in practice. Keeping your child out of the middle means more than not saying bad things about the other parent in front of them. It means not asking your child how the other parent’s household runs, not sending messages through your child, not reacting visibly when your child comes home talking positively about time spent with the other parent, and not allowing your child to feel that loving the other parent is somehow a betrayal of you.
Children whose parents put them in the middle carry that weight. They become little diplomats and secret-keepers, and they pay for it emotionally — sometimes for years.
Communicate Like a Business Partner, Not an Ex
The emotional history between co-parents is real. So is the fact that you now share a business — the business of raising a child — and that business requires functional communication regardless of how you feel about each other.
Practical tools help. Many Florida parenting plans require or encourage the use of a co-parenting communication platform such as Our Family Wizard. These platforms keep all communication in writing, provide a record that can be used in court if necessary, and create a buffer that reduces the likelihood of emotionally reactive exchanges.
When communicating with your co-parent, keep messages brief, child-focused, and free of commentary about the other parent’s personal life, choices, or relationship history. If you would not want a judge to read it, do not send it.
Consistency Across Homes Matters — But So Does Flexibility
Children benefit from consistency in rules, routines, and expectations across both households. Bedtimes, homework expectations, screen time rules, and discipline approaches that are wildly different between homes can be confusing and destabilizing for children, particularly younger ones.
That said, you cannot control what happens in the other parent’s home, and attempting to do so through litigation is expensive, exhausting, and rarely effective unless there is a genuine safety concern. Focus on what you can control: your home, your routines, and your relationship with your child.
Attend Appointments and Events Together When You Can
When parents attend school conferences, pediatric appointments, and extracurricular events together — not necessarily sitting together, but simply being present in the same space for the sake of their child — it sends a powerful message to the child: both of my parents are here for me, and I do not have to choose.
This is not always possible and not always safe. But when it is possible, it is worth the effort.
Document, But Don’t Weaponize
If your co-parent is consistently failing to honor the parenting plan — missing exchanges, withholding the child, failing to communicate about medical issues — document it. Keep a calendar. Save messages. Note dates, times, and what occurred.
Documentation is how you protect your rights and your child if the matter returns to court. It is not, however, a substitute for attempting to resolve issues directly and in good faith first. Courts in Florida expect parents to make reasonable efforts to work things out before filing motions, and a parent who runs to court over every minor deviation rarely impresses a judge.
Get Support — For Yourself and Your Child
Divorce and separation are hard. There is no version of this that is not hard. Seeking support — whether through individual therapy, a co-parenting counselor, or a support group — is not a sign of weakness. It is a sign that you understand the weight of what you are navigating and that you are taking seriously your responsibility to show up for your child.
If your child is struggling with the transition, a child therapist who specializes in family restructuring can be invaluable. You do not need to wait for a crisis to seek that support.
A Word About High-Conflict Co-Parenting
Not every co-parenting situation is the same. Some parents are able to communicate reasonably well and work through disagreements without court intervention. Others are in genuinely high-conflict situations involving domestic violence, substance abuse, mental health crises, or a co-parent who is simply unwilling to follow the parenting plan.
If you are in a high-conflict situation, the strategies above still apply — but the implementation looks different, and the legal protections available to you are different as well. Restrictive provisions in a parenting plan, limitations on communication, supervised exchange locations, and in serious cases, modifications to timesharing are all tools available through the court system.
The key is working with an attorney who understands the difference between a difficult co-parent and a dangerous one, and who can help you pursue the right remedy for your specific situation.
We Are Here to Help
At Rhoden Law Group our motto is All Things Family. We work with families across Brevard County navigating the full range of co-parenting and timesharing matters — from initial parenting plan negotiations to post-judgment modifications and enforcement. If you have questions about your rights or your parenting plan, we invite you to reach out for a courtesy consultation.