Legal Question in Family Law in Florida

Re: modification of custody

There is an old saying that even bad dads get visitation. Going to prison alone won't keep him from getting visitation. Of course, whatever he did that sent him to prison may keep him from getting visitation, especially if it involves crimes against children.

Judges are very strict about enforcing the laws that prevent children from being moved outside the state. You should speak with a lawyer right away.

Re: modification of custody

Ultimately, your judgment will be modified to include some kind of time sharing (custody and visitation no longer exist in our statutes) for their father--unless his crime involved children. What you should be seeking is that such time sharing only come after a gradual plan for reintroduction, featuring periods of supervised day time, then unsupervised day time, until becomine unsupervised overnight. If the children are distressed over seeing their father again, you may want to request the Court require the assistance of a mental health professional (at your ex's or both of your shared expense) to assist with the reunification. Or you could motion the Court for a social investigation, for a social worker or psychologist to recommend what type of contact he should have, and under what circumstances (that will likely be at your expense; court-provided social investigation programs are beset with budgetary problems).