St. Petersburg Child Custody and Timesharing
Timesharing & Parenting Plans
Your relationship with your child is irreplaceable. When that relationship is being contested, in a divorce, a dispute with your co-parent, or because a court order has stopped reflecting your family’s reality, you need a St. Petersburg child custody lawyer who will fight for it with everything available. Khonsari Law Group represents parents throughout Pinellas County in timesharing disputes, parenting plan negotiations, modifications, relocation cases, and enforcement hearings in the 6th Judicial Circuit Court.
Your parental rights deserve aggressive, experienced protection. Call (727) 269-5300 for a free case review.
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What Does Florida Law Actually Say About “Child Custody”?
In Florida, “child custody” is not a legal term. Understanding what Florida law actually says, and how it changed in 2023, is the first step in any timesharing matter.
Florida law recognizes two distinct components of parental rights. Timesharing is the physical schedule, which days, nights, holidays, and school breaks your child spends with each parent. Parental responsibility is decision-making authority, who has the legal right to make choices about your child’s education, healthcare, religion, and general welfare. Courts address both in a single document called the parenting plan, which becomes a binding court order once approved.
In 2023, Florida made its most significant change to timesharing law in years. The amendment to Florida Statute 61.13 established a rebuttable presumption that equal timesharing, a 50/50 schedule, is in the best interests of the child. That presumption can be overcome with the right evidence, but it fundamentally shifted how courts approach these cases. If your prior custody order predates July 2023, or if you’ve been reading general information about Florida family law, the rules you’re working from may no longer accurately reflect current law.
How Pinellas County Judges Evaluate Timesharing
Florida courts apply one standard to every timesharing determination: the best interests of the child. Under Florida law, that is not a vague phrase, judges in the 6th Judicial Circuit are required to evaluate more than 20 specific statutory factors and make written findings on each one.
The factors that carry the most weight include:
- Each parent’s willingness to actively support the child’s relationship with the other parent. Courts watch this closely. A parent who blocks calls, schedules activities that conflict with the other parent’s time, or speaks negatively about the other parent in front of the child can be penalized in the court’s timesharing decision. Parental alienation is a recognized legal issue in Florida.
- The consistency and stability of each parent’s home environment. This encompasses work schedules, living situations, involvement in the child’s schooling and medical appointments, and the ability to maintain a predictable daily routine.
- Moral fitness and conduct. Courts review any history of domestic violence, substance abuse, or criminal conduct that could affect the child’s safety or well-being.
- The child’s established relationships and community ties. Bonds with siblings, grandparents, schools, and neighborhoods factor into the timesharing analysis — particularly when one parent is seeking a schedule change that would disrupt those connections.
- The child’s own preference, given appropriate weight based on the child’s age and maturity. Florida does not set a specific age threshold, but the stated preferences of older, more mature children carry real weight in these proceedings.
Florida courts do not favor one parent over the other based on gender. Both parents are evaluated under the same factors and held to the same standard.
What Should Your Florida Parenting Plan Include?
A parenting plan is mandatory in every Florida case involving minor children, in a dissolution of marriage (divorce) as well as in a paternity action between unmarried parents. No case closes without one, and the court must approve it before it becomes binding.
A well-drafted parenting plan goes far beyond a weekly schedule. Every significant situation your family will face over the next decade should be addressed specifically enough to resolve disputes without returning to court.
- The complete timesharing schedule — daily routine, week-on/week-off or other rotation, and what triggers a deviation from the regular schedule.
- Every holiday and school break, spelled out individually, including what happens when a holiday falls on a regularly scheduled day and how alternating years are handled.
- Decision-making provisions — whether parental responsibility is shared (both parents decide jointly) or held primarily by one parent, and which categories of decisions require mutual consent.
- Communication between co-parents and with the child — method, frequency, and expected response times. Ambiguity here creates recurring conflict.
- How future disagreements are handled — what process parents follow when the parenting plan doesn’t address a specific situation.
- Relocation language — what either parent must do before moving more than 50 miles from their current residence, and the consequences of failing to follow that process.
A vague parenting plan is one of the most expensive documents a family can create. Parents return to Pinellas County circuit court again and again to resolve disputes that a more specific agreement would have prevented. Working with an experienced St. Petersburg family lawyer from the beginning costs far less than fixing a flawed plan later.
A parenting plan that’s too general becomes a source of conflict for years. Call Khonsari Law Group at (727) 269-5300 or contact us online — we’ll make sure yours is built to protect your relationship with your child, not to create more litigation.
When Timesharing Orders Change: Modifications, Relocation, and Enforcement
A finalized timesharing order is legally binding, but it isn’t permanent. Three situations most commonly bring parents back to Pinellas County family court after an initial order is in place.
Can a Timesharing Order Be Modified in Florida?
Yes. Florida allows modification when there has been a substantial and material change in circumstances since the original order, and when the requested change serves the child’s best interests.
The 2023 amendment to Florida Statute 61.13 also removed the prior requirement that the change be “unanticipated,” which matters: circumstances that were foreseeable at the time of the original order can now support a modification petition if they are substantial and material enough. Common qualifying circumstances include a significant shift in either parent’s income or schedule, new documented evidence of domestic violence or substance abuse, a change in the child’s school or medical needs, or a consistent and clearly expressed preference from an older child.
What If a Parent Wants to Relocate With the Child?
Under Florida Statute 61.13001, moving a child’s principal residence more than 50 miles away for 60 or more consecutive days requires specific legal steps. If both parents agree, a written agreement submitted to the court can authorize the move. If the other parent objects, a formal Petition to Relocate must be filed and the court must approve the move before it happens.
Courts decide relocation petitions on the child’s best interests, looking at the reason for the move, the effect on the child’s bond with the non-relocating parent, and whether a revised timesharing schedule can realistically preserve that relationship. Moving without following this process can result in a court ordering the child’s immediate return. If you have received a relocation notice, or are considering a move, contact us before taking any action.
When the Other Parent Isn’t Following the Order
If your co-parent is consistently violating a court-approved timesharing schedule, refusing to return the child on time, interfering with the child’s communication with you, or unilaterally changing the schedule without consent, you have legal recourse through Pinellas County Circuit Court.
An attorney can file a motion to enforce the existing order or a motion for contempt of court, a formal request for the court to hold the violating parent accountable for the breach. If the court finds a willful violation, it can award make-up timesharing, require the non-compliant parent to pay your attorney’s fees, and impose additional consequences. Document every violation, dates, times, what was said or done, from the moment the pattern begins. That documentation is the foundation of your enforcement case.
A Former Prosecutor Builds Your Case Differently
Rohom Khonsari spent years as an Assistant State Attorney before founding this firm. That time on the prosecution side shapes how he approaches family law in a specific way: he understands how judges read evidence, what makes a legal argument persuasive versus simply correct, and what it takes for a position to hold up under scrutiny at a hearing. Those instincts do not come from reading statutes. They come from standing in courtrooms.
Khonsari Law Group has appeared consistently in Pinellas County’s 6th Judicial Circuit and been recognized by ABC Action News, Bay News 9, the Tampa Bay Business Journal, and the Tampa Bay Times. The firm holds a BBB A+ rating. What clients come back and say is not that the process was easy. It is that they felt like someone was genuinely fighting for them.
Ask Khonsari Law Group
My co-parent and I are getting along, do we still need a St. Petersburg child custody lawyer?
Yes, and this is exactly when legal review matters most. Cooperative parents tend to write vague parenting plans because no one wants to seem difficult. Vagueness feels fine when everyone gets along, and becomes fuel for litigation the moment they don’t.
Does Florida automatically give each parent 50/50 timesharing now?
Not automatically, but the law changed significantly in 2023. Florida Statute 61.13 now establishes a rebuttable presumption that equal timesharing is in the child’s best interests, meaning courts start from that baseline. A parent seeking a different arrangement must present evidence sufficient to overcome that presumption. Whether that’s achievable depends heavily on the specific facts of your case.
How long does a child custody case take in Pinellas County?
An uncontested parenting plan between cooperative parents can be finalized in a matter of weeks once paperwork is correctly prepared and submitted to the court. A contested timesharing case in the 6th Judicial Circuit that requires a hearing or trial can take six months to over a year, depending on how disputed the issues are and current court scheduling.
What should I do if my co-parent is refusing to return my child at the end of scheduled timesharing?
Document it immediately, time, date, what was communicated, and what happened. If the child is being withheld without a legitimate emergency justification, contact a St. Petersburg child custody attorney as soon as possible. In cases involving immediate risk to the child, emergency court relief may be available. In cases involving repeated refusal, a motion for enforcement or contempt can be filed in Pinellas County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens when parents with shared parental responsibility can’t agree on a major decision about their child?
Either parent can bring the impasse back before the court. A judge can resolve the specific dispute and, when one parent is consistently obstructing reasonable decisions, can assign final authority in a particular category to the other parent. If deadlocks are becoming a recurring pattern, speak with an attorney before the conflict escalates into a formal proceeding. Addressing it early is almost always cheaper and less damaging than waiting.
How do Florida courts handle parental alienation?
Parental alienation is one of the statutory factors judges must evaluate under Florida Statute 61.13. A parent found to have deliberately damaged the child’s relationship with the other parent can face reduced timesharing, and in serious cases, a change in the child’s primary residence. Evidence is critical: communication records, documented interference, and consistent behavioral observations all matter. If you believe alienation is occurring, speak with an attorney about how to document it correctly before raising it in court.
What happens to timesharing during the divorce process, before a final order is entered?
Courts can issue temporary timesharing orders that govern the child’s schedule from filing through the final order, a period that can span several months in contested cases. These are not permanent, but the patterns they establish can carry real weight in the final outcome. A parent who functions as the de facto primary caregiver during this period may see that arrangement reflected in the final order because it has proven stable. What happens during the temporary order period matters. Legal guidance from the start protects the foundation.
Can a child in Florida choose which parent they want to live with?
Florida does not set a specific age at which a child can independently determine their custody arrangement. A child’s preference is one of more than 20 statutory factors courts must weigh, and it carries more influence as the child grows older and demonstrates consistent, independent judgment. A teenager’s well-reasoned preference will be taken seriously. A young child’s stated preference, especially one that appears coached by a parent, is weighed with significant caution by experienced judges.
Your relationship with your child is too important to leave unprotected. The St. Petersburg child custody lawyers at Khonsari Law Group fight for parental rights in Pinellas County courts every day, and we’ll fight for yours.
Call (727) 269-5300 or contact us online for a free case review. We represent parents throughout St. Petersburg, Pinellas County, and the greater Tampa Bay area.
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