Oftentimes, the care your child receives is the primary concern you may have as a mother facing a child custody proceeding. You may think your child will receive the best care if you are in charge of all their needs. If so, you need to know how to get full custody of a child as a mother in Florida.
The short answer to this question is to prove to the court that giving you full custody is in the child’s best interest. Newlon Law, P.A., can guide you through this and any other family law matter to give you the best chance of winning full custody.
Our family law attorney, Jon Newlon, has over 25 years of experience and is highly knowledgeable about Florida’s custody laws. You can contact our office today to receive top-level guidance for your case.
Florida’s Default Custody Rules
Child custody in Florida is divided into parental responsibility and time-sharing. Parental responsibility concerns each parent’s right to make serious decisions about a child’s life while time-sharing concerns where the child will live.
Florida law believes that parents sharing parental responsibility and having equal time-sharing rights is typically in the best interests of the child. However, a court might come to a different conclusion based on the evidence. Now, let’s talk about how to get full custody of a child as a mother.
How to Win Full Custody as a Mother
There are two significant ways that a mother might show the court that granting full custody to her is the right decision:
- Proving that the other parent poses a threat of harm to the child, or
- Proving that sole custody is in the best interests of the child.
We can help you gather the evidence necessary to prove either or both of these scenarios.
The Other Parent Poses a Threat
Depending on your circumstances, you can prove that the other parent poses a threat by proving the following:
- The other parent has a history of domestic violence;
- The other parent was convicted of or had an adjudication withheld for a sexual offense they committed as an adult against a victim who was under 18 or who the other parent thought was under 18;
- The other parent has been convicted of a domestic violence offense that is a first-degree misdemeanor or higher;
- You have reasonable cause to believe that your child has been in imminent danger of being a victim of neglect, domestic violence, abuse, sexual violence, or abandonment committed by the other parent; or
- You have reasonable cause to believe that you have been in imminent danger of being a victim of domestic abuse or sexual violence committed by the other parent.
These can be difficult matters to discuss, but we take the pressure off by navigating these issues for you.
Full Custody Is in Your Child’s Best Interests
The best interests of the child are the court’s main concern when entering a custody order. The following are the factors the court considers when identifying the child’s best interests:
- Each parent’s ability to provide a stable home environment;
- The child’s history with their home, school, and community;
- The child’s reasonable wishes if they are intelligent and experienced enough to express them;
- Each parent’s ability to communicate and cooperate with the other;
- Each parent’s willingness to allow the other parent to have a continuing relationship with the child;
- Whether the child is currently in a stable environment that should be maintained;
- Each parent’s capacity and disposition to protect the child from the family law litigation;
- Any history of domestic violence, abuse, child abandonment, sexual abuse, or child neglect;
- The health of each parent;
- The anticipated responsibilities of each parent;
- The child’s needs;
- Each parent’s ability to put the child’s needs ahead of their own;
- Each parent’s ability to fulfill the child’s needs;
- Each parent’s moral fitness;
- The geographic location of each parent;
- Any evidence of a parent knowingly providing false information about child neglect, sexual violence, abuse, or child abandonment;
- Each parent’s knowledge, disposition, and capacity to be informed about details of the child’s life;
- Each parent’s disposition and ability to be involved in the child’s school and activities; and
- Each parent’s capacity and disposition to keep an environment that is free from substance abuse.
You are more likely to receive full custody if the other parent is abusive or neglectful, but you don’t always have to prove that much. You could still receive full custody if you prove that many of the above factors tip heavily in your favor.
Steps to Get Custody of a Child
The journey to getting full custody of a child begins with a divorce or separation case or an independent custody case. Steps for these cases include the following.
File a Petition in Court
To start your custody case, you can file a petition for dissolution of marriage or a custody petition in court. In this petition, you must include information about your family and state what resolution you are seeking.
Service
After you file your petition, you must serve it on the other parent and allow them to respond. Serving the other parent means having a sheriff deliver your petition and a summons to them.
Give Time for a Response
After service, the other parent has 20 days to respond to your petition and make their own arguments about resolving the case. After the 20 days pass, you can move on to discovery (gathering evidence) and a trial.
Gather Evidence
To prove your right to full custody, you must present evidence of why giving all custody to you is in your child’s best interests. This evidence might include the following:
- Medical records,
- Pictures,
- Police reports,
- Recordings,
- Financial records,
- School records,
- Employment records,
- Child and Family Services reports, and
- Witness testimony.
After your court case is open, you can use legal tools such as sworn questions (interrogatories) and witness subpoenas to help ensure you get the evidence you need.
Go to Trial
After you gather your evidence, it’s time to go to trial if the parents cannot agree to an arrangement on their own. Once the court is satisfied with the information it has received, it hands down a custody order. We can make the right arguments for you and present your evidence in the best light for your needs.
How Long Does a Child Custody Case Take in Florida?
A child custody case can take several months. However, the length of the case depends on its complexity and contentiousness.
We Can Help
Newlon Law, P.A., is an award-winning legal team that provides decades of knowledge and skill to the people of Florida. If you are looking for compassionate and knowledgeable legal help, please contact us. You can reach us by phone or online to schedule an appointment.