Parental Rights in Florida
If you’re a parent who believes your rights are being violated, please reach out to our law firm. As a parent in Florida, your rights matter to us. Below, we will discuss briefly areas of parental rights for both mothers and fathers in Tampa Bay.
The Florida statutes are very specific regarding time-sharing and child custody and support. The rights of mothers’ and fathers’ along with their legal responsibilities are addressed.
Unmarried Parents in Tampa Bay
If you are unmarried with minor children in Tampa Bay and have not yet established paternity, the biological father has no legal rights to custody or timesharing until paternity is legally established. Until that occurs, the mother has sole, legal and physical child custody .
Establishing Paternity – Biological Fathers
If you’re a new Dad, congratulations! Many unmarried parents successfully co-parent and in the best interest of their minor children, provide the love and financial support they need and deserve. All too frequently however, this is not the case. It may start out as an amicable and fair situation but then, for a variety of reasons, that suddenly changes.
If legal paternity has not been established, this leaves the father with no legal recourse until it has been established by the courts. It is highly beneficial to establish legal paternity as soon as possible so that if timesharing or child support issues become problematic you can take immediate action to assert your parental rights. If you would like more information about Father’s rights and timesharing, please read: A Father’s Rights to Timesharing in Tampa Bay
Mother’s Rights
If you’re an unmarried mom we know what a special time this can be! When Dad is helping to provide for your child financially and with timesharing, it can lighten the load of being a new mother. It is not necessary to absorb 100% of the responsibility of raising a child. In fact, in Florida the law states otherwise. When Dads are participating in both the financial and daily responsibilities associated with raising children, it is usually in everyone’s best interest. Your child’s biological father may be helpful now, but your child will not be entitled to many benefits of the father, should legal paternity not be established first. Access to the father’s medical records, certain benefits including insurance benefits are just a few examples.
Divorcing Couples with Minor Children
Florida courts typically lean more towards awarding shared parental responsibility and time-sharing. There is no presumption of 50/50 timesharing however and many factors can affect the outcome of your final parenting plan or custody order. Judges may order sole parental responsibility and restricted time-sharing when circumstances warrant it. It is very important for parents to first differentiate between parental responsibility and timesharing. It’s because of this, that you should consider the benefits of hiring the best Tampa Bay child custody and divorce attorneys for their unique situation. Once an order is set, it must meet specific criteria to modify a child custody or timehsaring order. Once an order is set, however, if your ex does not abide by the order, your parental rights must be legally asserted. The Attorneys at Nilo J Sanchez & Associates are here to provide you with sound, aggressive representation and counsel to help you to do so.
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