Legal Question in Family Law in Florida

Re: What should i do with my kids

It depends on what the original court order sets out in terms of custody and whether you want to petition to modify this decree based on recent, pertinent events. Depending on your children's ages, the court may take into consideration their own preferences. If you do not have custody but are considering petitioning for it, I suggest you see an attorney to explore your particular options. Good luck.

Re: What should i do with my kids

Hello: I just got to your question as I have been busy and have more than 100 of these. I see someone provided an answer, but I'll supplement that and mention I'm in Jacksonville. A lot of people make changes in their divorce Final Judgments without getting an order signed by the Judge. This is often done with custody, support or alimony. It can be problematic however. Under Fla. law, if one was ordered to pay child support and then switched custody without getting an order from the court, the child support obligation continues and that party may have to pay an arrearage. I always advise people that do this and maybe do not have funds for a lawyer to at least write the judge and inform. This could be treated later as a motion to modify the final judgment. As such, if the modification was confirmed by the court, the child suppport obligation would be deemed terminated back to the time he/she wrote to the court.

Also, if parties agreed on their own to change something and then one later changed his/her mind, the other party would have nothing to prevent that party from enforcing the particular provision.

You may want to ask your ex to get something in writing. If you are worried about the instability of your situation, your remedy would be to file a motion to modify the final judgment as it pertains to the custody of the kids. Unless she will consent to a judge's order (substantially simplifying this), this is litigation that is similar to starting a new case. The other side has to be served with the motion, the court will order a custody evaluation, parties to attend mediation and if the case doesn't settle, there would be a trial in chambers (no jury for family law).

You did not mention what state you were divorced in. If not Fla. there are some more hoops to jump through, but they are not that extensive. If you choose to seek a court ordered modification, you would want to look into or ask a lawyer about the factors a court uses to determine custody. As such, you may want to review Fla. Statutes on-line. Look up Chapter 61, section 61.13. 'Hope this helps. Tom Rosenblum