Until recently, the court system in the State of Florida appeared to favor mothers over fathers in litigation involving children. The State of Florida use to have a Tender Years Doctrine which stated that mothers were more appropriate care takers than fathers for young children fathers were not considered equal just based upon their gender. Recently, the laws in the State of Florida in the area of family law have changed and both parents are presumed equal in terms of the timesharing with their children. Prior to the change in this law the court system used the terms custody and visitation rights. In the majority of cases, women were awarded custody and men were entitled to visitation rights the typical visitation schedule allowed a man to see his child or children every other weekend and usually once during the week for dinner.
Visitation was considered a right, but it was not mandatory due to the fact that visitation was not mandatory many men did not exercise their rights to visitation.
Based upon the new laws in the State of Florida the terms custody and visitation have been abolished. These terms were replaced by the terms Timesharing and Co-Parenting it is now mandatory for both parents to exercise time sharing based upon the existing parenting plan. The new law has a presumption of equal time sharing for both parents. The failure of either parent to exercise timesharing will result in the court holding that parent in Contempt of Court. If either parent interferes with the others parent’s timesharing, then they can be held in contempt of court. This law was created in the State of Florida, so that both parents would have equal rights and the law is considered to make the parents’ rights gender neutral.
Even prior to the change in the law, there has been a trend by Fathers and Husbands to see their children as often as possible. In today’s society men play a more active role in the raising of their children then they have in any point of time in the past. Fathers know their rights and actively. There are more and more fathers that not only have equal timesharing, but have their children living with them the majority of the time. As a Father and a Family Law Attorney I understand the importance of a Fathers’ rule in their children’s lives.
If you are a father in need of an attorney to compel your rights to see your children and to share in the decisions of raising your children, then I am prepared to assist you.