Custody

Child Custody Attorney, Hernando County, Florida

The Attorneys at Morris Law Group of Brooksville Florida, understand how crucial issues involving children can be in divorce, paternity, or other legal matter. Parental Responsibility, custody, support, timesharing and visitation are central issues in relation to child issues and require compliance with Florida Statutes and detailed evaluation to make sure the best interests of the children are protected at all costs.

Child Custody, Establishment of Parenting Plans, Modifications of Custody and Parenting Plans

• Establishment of Parenting Plan and timesharing schedule related to dissolution of marriage actions
• Establishment of Parenting Plan in relation to Paternity actions
• Child Custody Modification Suits
• Modifications of prior Parenting Plans, custody determinations, and/or timesharing schedules

Establishment of Paternity: Where parties are not married and have a child in common Judicial Intervention may be needed to establish paternity and protect a parent’s rights with regard to their child and prevent a party from restricting and/or preventing the other party from having contact with the child or involvement in the child’s life. Knowledge as to your rights and responsibilities with regard to such children is imperative to protect your rights and relationship with your child.

Modification Custody, Parenting Plans, and/or Timesharing: Circumstances may arise after the Court has set in place a final Parenting Plan, custody determination, timesharing schedule, or other order which may warrant a later modification of the prior ruling. Such modifications may be necessary for the protection of a party and minor children, or to protect a child support interest or order. The Morris Law Group is experienced in handling both sides of such modification matters and has successfully advocated for modifications of Parenting Plans, custody decisions, and timesharing schedules; and has also successfully opposed requests for modifications on behalf of their clients. Detailed and thorough evaluation of the facts and circumstances is necessary to properly address and resolve such issues in light of Florida Statute.

Some of the most common reasons people file custody modification suits are:

• Moving from one state to another
• New spouse or boy/girlfriend of one parent has problems with child
• Old order inaccurate to new life changes of parent or child
• Safety issue regarding child
• Change in residence of child from one parent to another
• Support issues
• Standard visitation in order incompatible with one or both parents’ work schedules
• Special medical/educational needs of child
• Limit/Remove visitation under certain circumstances

Visitation Rights (Obtain and Enforce): An original suit (see above) must be filed for a father who is not married to the mother of his child to obtain enforceable visitation rights to a child. Also, if a prior custody order was issued by a court without visitation provisions, the father must file a modification in order to attempt to obtain visitation rights. In these cases, a consultation with a family law attorney is necessary to determine what you should do, based on your facts and Florida law. Visitation rights can be enforced against a parent who is not complying with a court order by having an attorney file an enforcement motion. There are very specific facts required to enforce, and a consultation with a family law attorney is necessary to determine if your child custody case is ready for an enforcement motion.

Grandparent Custody: Several factors, including one major U.S. Supreme Court case from 1999, affect the ability of grandparents to seek custody of their grandchildren. These issues are legally complex, and require a consultation with a family law attorney to see if your facts are right under Florida and federal law to file for child custody of your grandchildren.