Florida Child Custody Form Questions

by Brenda from Winter Park, Florida, Orange County

I have some custody form questions:

• Participation in custody or time sharing proceedings, what does this question mean legally?

• Persons not a party to this proceeding?

• Knowledge of prior child support proceedings?

Answer to Florida Child Custody Question

Dear Brenda,

I believe you must be looking at the check off boxes on the UCCJEA Affidavit, Paragraphs 2, 3, & 4. I’ve copied parts of those paragraphs, and made comments after.

2. Participation in custody or time-sharing proceeding(s):

check one only

___ I HAVE NOT participated as a party, witness, or in any capacity in any other litigation or custody proceeding in this or any other state, concerning custody of or time-sharing with a child subject to this proceeding.

___ I HAVE participated as a party, witness, or in any capacity in any other litigation or custody proceeding in this or another state, concerning custody of or time-sharing with a child subject to this proceeding.

You either have or have not been involved in a court proceeding regarding custody of this child (or these children, if more than one).

3. Information about custody or time-sharing proceeding(s):

check one only

___ I HAVE NO INFORMATION of any custody or time-sharing proceeding pending in a court of this or any other state concerning a child subject to this proceeding.

___ I HAVE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION concerning a custody or time-sharing proceeding pending in a court of this or another state concerning a child subject to this proceeding, other than set out in item 2.

You either know or you don’t know of any other custody proceeding that is going to be heard in Florida or any other state regarding this child (or these children).

One of the main purposes of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) is to prevent conflicting court orders concerning the same children, rendered by different judges in different jurisdictions.

The court needs to know if there is any other order or pending order before a reasonable decision can be reached.
4. Persons not a party to this proceeding:

check one only

___ I DO NOT KNOW OF ANY PERSON not a party to this proceeding who has physical custody or claims to have custody, visitation or time-sharing with respect to any child subject to this proceeding.

___ I KNOW THAT THE FOLLOWING NAMED PERSON(S) not a party to this proceeding has (have) physical custody or claim(s) to have custody, visitation, or time-sharing with respect to any child subject to this proceeding.

This question is asking whether there is any other individual who may have a right to custody of this or these children. It could be that the child(ren) lived with a grandmother for their whole lives and then the absent parent wanted custody.

In general, a grandmother would not be included in a child custody proceeding, but in that circumstance, she might need to be notified.

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