Supervised vs. Unsupervised Visitations in Florida Divorce and Child Timesharing Cases – What is the Difference?

Supervised or unsupervised visitation is an issue that sometimes comes up in Miami child timesharing and divorce cases. Indeed, when parents of a child in a marriage decide to divorce, or unmarried parents decide to split up, who the child will live with and who will make decisions on behalf of the child must be decided, and, in some cases, whether or not visitations with a non-custodial parents should be supervised must also be hammered out. But when does a court rule that visitations with a non-custodial parent should be supervised and how can Miami parents get help when it comes to advocating for supervised visitations for their child? To help Miami parents better understand how supervised and unsupervised visitations work, we answer those questions here.

Florida Child Timesharing Laws – The Default “Best Interests of the Child”

At the outset, when it comes to child timesharing matters in Miami, and throughout Florida, the most important “default” inquiry that courts must ask when making decisions is “what is in the best interests of the child?” As Florida laws establish, “It is the public policy of this state that each minor child has frequent and continuing contact with both parents after the parents separate or the marriage of the parties is dissolved and to encourage parents to share the rights and responsibilities, and joys, of childrearing.” Accordingly, the law goes on to mandate that, “Unless otherwise provided [by law] or agreed to by the parties, there is a rebuttable presumption that equal time-sharing of a minor child is in the best interests of the minor child. To rebut this presumption, a party must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that equal time-sharing is not in the best interests of the minor child. Except when a time-sharing schedule is agreed to by the parties and approved by the court, the court must evaluate all of the factors set forth in subsection (3) and make specific written findings of fact when creating or modifying a time-sharing schedule.” In sum, Florida courts look to the best interests of the child when making child time-sharing decisions, including decisions about supervised and unsupervised visitations.

Supervised Visitations Under Florida Laws

Although, as the law describes, the default rule is that children in Miami should have equal time with both parents, when certain extenuating circumstances exist (such as drug abuse, violence, criminal activity, other circumstances) in a child timesharing case, the court may order that visitations with a non-custodial parent be supervised. This means that a trusted third-party must oversee visits between the parent and the child, and the parent and the child must not be left alone without supervision. If you are seeking to enforce supervised visitation in your Miami divorce or child timesharing case, or you believe that you have wrongly been ordered to have supervised visitations with your child, it is best to speak with an experienced Miami child timesharing attorney as soon as possible about your rights and options in your particular case.

The experienced Miami child timesharing attorneys at True North Law, P.A. are here to help Miami parents with their complex child timesharing matters. Contact True North Law, P.A. and speak to an attorney about your case today.

Source:

m.flsenate.gov/statutes/61.13