Child Custody With Father

by Timothy from Arcadia, Florida, DeSoto County

My daughter is 28 months old and has lived with me for 22 months if not more. I filed for child support and the mother became angry and took her from me.

Do I stand a chance of winning custody?

Answer to Florida Child Custody Question

Dear Timothy,

In theory, Florida courts do not favor one parent's gender over the other.

Years ago, there was a way of thinking called, "tender years doctrine" where Florida judges believed that the best choice for custody for young children was almost always with the mother.

Nowadays, the courts support the concept -- "best interests of the child" -- in making child custody determinations.

Judges nowadays also generally try to allow "shared parental responsibility" if at all possible.

In shared parental responsibility both parents share in decisions regarding the child, even though the child may live with one parent more of the time than the other.

More than anything, Florida judges would like for parents to be reasonable and mature in all issues regarding their children. The following is an excerpt from a document written by the Chief Judge in Brevard County.

When parents of minor children cease to live together, one parent normally has primary physical residential responsibility for the children and the other parent normally has rights of visitation with the children.

The breakup of a family unit is traumatic to all involved, especially to the children.
The issues of custody and visitation are major issues and the resolution of those issues can benefit or be detrimental to the children, depending upon the parents and the way the issues are resolved.

A beneficial resolution requires that the parents be prepared to share the difficult responsibilities of rearing children in separate homes and that they be mature and responsible enough to do so.

Notice: We provide these answers to the general public and our website visitors as a means to further their online legal research. These answers are merely suggestions and should not be regarded as legal advice.

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