Plantation Family Law Blog

How do you spend your child visitation days?

On behalf of Kelley Joseph of Law Office of Kelley A. Joseph, P.A. posted in Child Custody on Tuesday, November 13, 2018.

The worst thing a noncustodial parent can hear from their child on visitation day is, "Daddy/Mommy, I'm bored!" It hurts to think that your children aren't having fun with you. And it's even worse when a noncustodial parent receives this kind of feedback from the other parent after the children go home. "The kids were bored all weekend, why didn't you do something more interesting with them?"

Obviously, your job as a "parent" is not about being the entertainer. Nevertheless, if you want to spruce up your visitation time with your kids, you might want to think of some creative activities - and ask your children for ideas as well. To prime the pump of your creativity in this regard, here are three simple ideas that both the kids and you will surely enjoy:

How to make a long-distance parenting plan

On behalf of Kelley Joseph of Law Office of Kelley A. Joseph, P.A. posted in Visitation on Thursday, November 1, 2018.

Parents are not always lucky enough to live close to one another. When two parents share custody, but they live a long distance apart, they will need to make strategic use of holiday schedules to ensure that the noncustodial parent -- i.e., the parent with whom the children do not live -- gets to continue spending quality time with children.

Here are the holidays that mothers and fathers can share when making a long-distance parenting plan:

Are you thinking about joint custody arrangements?

On behalf of Kelley Joseph of Law Office of Kelley A. Joseph, P.A. posted in Child Custody on Friday, October 26, 2018.

When parents decide to get a divorce, beyond all other aspects of their breakup, decisions relating to child custody are the most important - and the most difficult. The parents will have to decide with whom the children will and how they'll share their time with their children. One way that parents organize these decisions is through a joint physical custody arrangement.

Joint physical custody means that the child or children live with both parents - usually for equal amounts of time. Many parents with joint custody arrangements will create a rotating three-day on and four-day off schedule. One week, Parent A has the child for three days and Parent B has the child for four days. The next week, Parent B has the child for three days and so forth.

Is a mother or father more likely to get child custody?

On behalf of Kelley Joseph of Law Office of Kelley A. Joseph, P.A. posted in Child Custody on Tuesday, October 23, 2018.

Mothers and fathers actually have an equal right to child custody. Gender should not factor into this equation at all. However, due to the nature of how people tend to adopt gender roles in marriages and families, there are a preponderance of women who do gain the advantage during a child custody battle. This is because it's often women who are the primary caretakers of their children.

There are two primary considerations that courts look at when deciding who will receive custody of a child:

These celebrities battled in court over their kids

On behalf of Kelley Joseph of Law Office of Kelley A. Joseph, P.A. posted in Visitation on Friday, October 12, 2018.

Anyone who glances at the news from time to time is well aware of the fact that celebrities are prone to having relationship troubles. Even worse, those who are married tend to have ugly divorce proceedings when lots of money and children are involved. Here are three examples of celebrity child custody battles and their results:

Halle Berry

What should I know when scheduling a parenting plan for my baby?

On behalf of Kelley Joseph of Law Office of Kelley A. Joseph, P.A. posted in Child Custody on Wednesday, October 10, 2018.

Newborn babies have special needs, so if you're in the process of planning your child visitation or parenting plan agreement for a baby, you'll want to keep these needs in mind. Here are some vital considerations to remember while trying to make a plan for your baby:

Consistency is key

Brad Pitt gets to see his children every other day

On behalf of Kelley Joseph of Law Office of Kelley A. Joseph, P.A. posted in Visitation on Thursday, September 27, 2018.

In spite of an intense custody battle with his estranged spouse, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt has recently spent every other day with his six children. This every-other-day visitation arrangement has begun after the recent expiration of the couple's temporary summer custody agreement. At this time, the couple's court-ordered custody evaluation has not been completed, so permanent legal arrangements are pending.

Although the children do not spend the night with Pitt, they are spending four hours per day together on school days and 12 hours per day together on nonschool days. The visits are also supervised with the presence of court-approved officials from the Department of Children and Family Services.

How can non-custodial parents spend more time with their kids?

On behalf of Kelley Joseph of Law Office of Kelley A. Joseph, P.A. posted in Child Custody on Wednesday, September 26, 2018.

Imagine you're a parent who has completed your divorce process, and you did not win shared custody of your child. Instead, you only have the right to spend every other weekend with your child. That's four days per month, and during the two weeks that pass between visits, you desperately want to maintain a connection.

Although your child custody agreement or child custody orders state that your visitation days are limited to every other weekend, you may have additional opportunities to spend precious moments with your son or daughter.

Sharing holiday time with the other parent of your kids

On behalf of Kelley Joseph of Law Office of Kelley A. Joseph, P.A. posted in Visitation on Friday, September 14, 2018.

Barring rare circumstances, the other parent of your children will usually share custody with you -- and at the very least, this parent will have visitation rights. This means that when important holidays come around, you'll have to find a way of sharing this time with the other parent of your kids.

Holidays like Hanukkah, Christmas, Halloween, Easter and other cultural and religious days may have special meaning to your family. Your child will probably want to spend time with both you and your spouse on these days, so it's important to find a fair way of divvying up the time. Holding a family meeting to decide this issue could prove fruitful in this regard if you and your ex-spouse are able to talk and work with one another in a civil and respectful fashion.

Reasons why a Florida parent could lose child custody

On behalf of Kelley Joseph of Law Office of Kelley A. Joseph, P.A. posted in Child Custody on Tuesday, September 11, 2018.

Your child is the most precious thing in your life, but that doesn't mean you will always have the "right" to possess your child -- if the government decides to intervene. There are several circumstances in which a Florida parent could lose his or her parental rights.

Whether you're seeking to challenge the other parent of your child's fitness to be a parent, or are trying to defend your parental rights, you might want to know about the following reasons why the state could revoke parenting privileges: