Category Archives: Parental Rights
Important Issues to Address in Your Parenting Plan
Dividing time between two different households following a divorce can require a significant adjustment for parents, as well as their children. This transition can be made much simpler through the creation of a detailed parenting plan. Although parenting plans can address any number of childcare-related issues, there are a few important matters that should… Read More »
When Parents Cannot Agree on Their Child’s Education
Dissolving a marriage can raise a host of complicated issues for parents when it comes to raising their children in post-divorce life. For instance, in one recent case, Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal was asked to resolve a disagreement between two parents with shared parenting responsibilities who could not agree on where their… Read More »
Do Gestational Surrogates Have Parental Rights?
Since the first reported child conceived from a cryopreserved embryo was born in 1984, courts have been grappling with how to define paternity and parental rights in light of scientific innovation. Fortunately, a few years ago, the Florida Legislature enacted provisions that specifically apply to paternity-related issues in situations that involve in vitro fertilization…. Read More »
When do Courts Award Parental Rights to One Party?
In Florida, it is generally presumed that divorced parents will share parenting time, as it is thought that encouraging relationships with both parents is in a child’s best interests. Ideally, this would mean that a child would be able to spend roughly equal amounts of time with both parents. For this reason, granting sole… Read More »
Terminating Parental Rights
The law recognizes the special relationship that exists between parents and their children. For this reason, parental rights to visitation are strictly enforced, as are parental obligations, which includes paying child support. However, parental rights are not absolute, so courts have the power to remove them under certain circumstances. Similarly, parents can voluntarily relinquish… Read More »
Parental Alienation
While many families are able to weather divorce proceedings without causing any irreparable damage to the relationship between parent and child, this is not always the case. In fact, some parents go out of their way to harm the relationship between their child and his or her other parent. When tactics reach a certain… Read More »
The Importance of Communicating with a New Stepparent
Regardless of the reasons for your divorce, it is sometimes difficult to adjust to the idea of your former spouse getting remarried. Watching a newly married couple establish a household and set up their new family unit can be difficult, especially when children are involved. Getting used to a new stepparent is hard for… Read More »
Shared Parental Responsibility Where One Parent is an Adoptive Parent
In the state of Florida, an adoptive parent has all of the rights and responsibilities of a biological parent. This includes legal financial rights and responsibilities as well as emotional rights and responsibilities. This means that during divorce proceedings, each parent is on equal footing with regards to their rights and responsibilities to their… Read More »
What is Florida’s Parenting Course and Why Do I Have to Take It?
Florida statute 61.21 explains parenting courses in the state of Florida. Parenting courses must be taken by parties to a marriage dissolution with minor children or in a paternity case when a case involves determination of parental responsibility. The classes must be completed by a petitioner within 45 days of the filing of the… Read More »
Florida Still Not Recognizing Same-Sex Spouse on Birth Certificates
In spite of progress the country has made since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on same-sex marriage equality, same-sex couples in Florida are still being denied the right to be listed on their child’s birth certificate without going through the process of stepparent adoption. Specifically, for a couple who has been married where one… Read More »
