Equal time-sharing is now the starting point. It is a presumption, not a rule, and it can be rebutted.
Section 61.13 governs parental responsibility and time-sharing. Since 2023 it has carried a rebuttable presumption that equal time-sharing is in the best interests of a minor child. The presumption sets the starting point; it doesn’t decide the case.
The section requires a parenting plan in every case involving a minor child, establishes the rebuttable presumption of equal time-sharing, and directs the court to determine time-sharing by reference to the best interests of the child. Parental responsibility is shared unless the court finds shared responsibility would be detrimental to the child.
§ 61.13 · read it on leg.state.fl.us
Rebutting the presumption takes evidence, not assertion. A parent seeking a departure has to show by a preponderance of the evidence that equal time-sharing is not in the child’s best interests, measured against the statutory factors.
Parental responsibility and time-sharing are separate questions. Decision-making authority over education, health and religion is decided apart from where the child sleeps.
The parenting plan is a document, not an understanding. Schedules, holidays, exchanges and communication all have to be written down, and vagueness is what brings people back to court.
Since 2023 the conversation starts from equal time. The presumption is a starting point, not a result, and clients routinely mistake one for the other.
Rebutting it takes evidence a court can rely on, which in practice means a record kept as events happened rather than assembled afterward. Knowing what information is needed to keep those sufficient records is not only beneficial for your case, but saves on your attorneys fees.
Time-sharing is where fees escalate fastest, because the evidence is behavioural rather than documentary. Every exchange dispute, every message thread that has to be read and organized, is billed at an hourly rate. Keeping a clean record yourself is the single largest saving available in a parenting case.
Part 6 of Before You File covers parenting preparation, and the case file keeps your communications and incident records in one place.
See what is included