Parental responsibility
| Author | Annette J. Szorosy/Stephanie Matalon |
| Profession | General Magistrate/General Magistrate |
| Pages | 855-996 |
PARENTAL
RESPONSIBILITY
14-1
CHAPTER 14
Parental Responsibility
QUICK VIEW
Parental responsibility and child issues are the most emotionally charged issues in a dissolution of marriage
case. The duties and responsibilities of the lawyer and judge are the greatest and most complex. When divorc-
ing parents cede to the judicial branch of government the duty to decide the most intimate family issues, it is
not unlikely that one or both parents will be less than satisfied with the decision. The bench and bar have for
years now encouraged divorcing parents to resolve their differences through mediation. In effect, parents have
been urged to make their own law, in the hope that they can better live with a decision that is their own, rather
than a decision that is externally imposed. Where attempts at mediation or other settlement fail, or are not
seriously undertaken, a court must decide. It is the family lawyer’s responsibility to make sure that the parents
proceed with their eyes open to reality and know the consequences of giving up their personal parental power
to a stranger, a judge, to decide child issues in a limited amount of time with a limited amount of information.
It is the lawyer’s primary responsibility to act as counselor and advisor, only provide the most competent
representation in this emotionally charged area, or refer the parental responsibility and child issues to an
experienced lawyer who specializes in these issues. Because an appellate court will not reverse unless the
trial court abuses its discretion, the parental responsibility determinations of the judge may be one the parents
must live with without potential recourse. Court is and should be a last resort. This chapter details what should
be attempted first: the practices and procedures of the lawyer’s new and more important problem solving role.
Every aspect of a parenting plan, prerequisites, concerns, organization, interventions, implementation, and
process and procedure is included in this chapter. The interventions, evaluations, and procedures, including
case management, set forth in this chapter will be ordered by the judge, if the lawyer does not have his or
her client voluntarily comply.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. PRACTICAL PREPARATION
§14:01 Parenting Plan Prerequisites and Requirements for Court Approval
§14:02 Knowledge of Child Development and Normal Reactions of Children During Their
Parents’ Dissolution of Marriage
§14:03 Promoting “Better Parent” Requires Different, Not More, Lawyering
§14:04 Guardian Ad Litem or Parenting Coordinator Are Not Perfunctorily Appointed in Every
Contested Child Issues Case
§14:05 In Area of Parental Responsibility and Child Issues, One Parent Does Not “Win” Battle,
Other Parent “Loses” It
§14:06 Elimination of Conflict as Priority for Good Outcomes for Children
§14:07 Good Outcomes for Children After Dissolution of Their Parents’ Marriage
§14:08 Recognize Substantial Evidence of Destructive Effect of Divorce Conflict on Children
PARENTAL
RESPONSIBILITY
Florida Family Law and Practice 14-2
§14:09 Seek Remedy Reasonably Related to “Wrong”
§14:10 Decision-Making and Communication Difficulties
§14:11 Legal Shared Parental Responsibility Options
§14:12 Legal Shared Parental Responsibility Practice and Procedure
§14:13 Where Child Lives: Time-Sharing and Contact Difficulties
§14:14 Moving: Relocation Can Be Amicably Resolved
§14:15 Discovery and Mediation
§14:16 Agreements
§14:17 Parenting Plan Preparation and Implementation
§14:18 Supreme Court Approved Parenting Plans
§14:18.1 Title IV-D Standard Parenting Time Plans
§14:19 Impact of Duty of Candor
§14:20 Parallel Parenting
§14:21 Impact of Electronic Filing and Supreme Court Rule Changes
on Parental Responsibility Issues
§14:22 Application of Foreign Law and Enforcement of A Judgment or
Order of a Court of a Foreign Country
II. ISSUE IDENTIFICATION AND LAWYER AS COUNSELOR
A. Basic Points
§14:30 In General: Parenting Plan Concerns
§14:31 Presumption: Two Psychologically Intact, Conscientious Parents Capable of Shared Parenting
§14:32 Power and Control
§14:33 Communication Difficulties
§14:34 Parental Changes
§14:35 Trust Building and Addressing Immediate Problems
§14:36 Other Parent’s New “Friend”
§14:37 Parents Living Together in Home and Not Getting Along
§14:38 Paternity Disestablishment and Interplay With “Best Interests of the Child” Standard
§14:39 Change in How to Conduct the Business of Family Law
B. Emotional Dissolution of Marriage Impairment
§14:50 In General: Parenting Plan Organization
§14:51 Initiator and Noninitiator: Stages and Impact
§14:52 Intact Marriage: Best Indicator of Real Parenting Behavior and Actions
§14:53 Evaluation and Analysis: Reality Training
§14:54 Meeting in Month: Learn Other Perspective
§14:55 Organize Client
§14:56 Client’s File and Homework
§14:57 Ritual, Tradition, and Memory Creation
§14:58 Being “Best” Parent
§14:59 Maintaining Factual Diary
C. Parents Impaired Beyond Emotional Dissolution of Marriage
1. In General: Parenting Plan Interventions
§14:70 Nature of Other Impairments
§14:71 Evaluation and Analysis
§14:72 Amount and Effect of Impairments
§14:73 Reasonable Prior Investigation Required
§14:74 Stipulations for Interventions
§14:75 Presumption: Parents Act in Best Interests of Minor Child
2. Specific Impairments: Parenting Plan Interventions
§14:80 Emotional Abuse
§14:81 Alcohol Abuse
§14:82 Substance Abuse
PARENTAL
RESPONSIBILITY
14-3 Parental Responsibility
§14:83 Psychological Issues
§14:84 Physical Abuse
§14:85 Parental Alienation of Child
§14:86 Child Sex Abuse
D. Knowledge and Application of Child Development
§14:100 In General
§14:101 Birth to Two Years and Parenting Plan Development
§14:102 Ages 3 to 5 and Parenting Plan Development
§14:103 Ages 6 to 8 and Parenting Plan Development
§14:104 Ages 9 to 12 and Parenting Plan Development
§14:105 Ages 13 to 18 and Parenting Plan Development
E. Knowledge and Application of Shared Parental Responsibility
§14:110 In General
§14:111 Parenting Plans: Explanation and Discussion of Florida Law
§14:112 Evaluation and Analysis: Motive and Intent
§14:113 When Parent Wants “Custody”
§14:114 When Parent Wants More Time-Sharing in the Plan
§14:115 When Parent Says It Is Child’s Preference or Child Wants to Talk to Judge
§14:116 Focus on Future: Parenting Plan
§14:117 Decision-Making Common Sense Implementation Procedures
§14:118 Physical Shared Parental Responsibility Common Sense Implementation Procedures
§14:119 Relocation Concerns
F. Conflict Minimization and Elimination Essential to Best Interests of Child
§14:130 In General
§14:131 Evaluation and Analysis
§14:132 Assessing Level of Conflict to Appropriate Intervention
§14:133 Healthy Families
§14:134 Moderate Conflict
§14:135 Severe Conflict
§14:136 Toxic Parents
III. INTERVENTIONS FOR PARENTING PLAN IMPLEMENTATION
§14:150 In General
§14:151 Parent Education and Family Stabilization Course
§14:152 Attendance at Earliest Stages, Before Extensive Litigation and Adversarial Positions
§14:153 Legislative Findings and Purpose
§14:154 Minimum Four-Hour Course in Each Circuit
§14:155 Course Not Designed to Provide Individual Mental Health Therapy or Advice
§14:156 Course Completion Required
§14:157 Parent Effectiveness Training Courses
§14:158 Parent Support Groups; 12 Weeks
§14:159 Individualized Special Needs Parenting Sessions
§14:160 Intensive 36-Week Parent Training
§14:161 Adult Anger Management Courses and Batterers’ Intervention Courses
§14:162 Child Education
§14:163 Child and Divorce Courses
§14:164 Juvenile Therapy Programs
§14:165 Child Anger Management Courses
§14:166 Adult and Child Substance Abuse Treatment
§14:167 Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous
§14:168 Psychologist or Psychiatrist: Individual and Family
§14:169 Marriage Counseling and Family Therapy
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