Parenting Coordinator Requirements

The parenting coordinator is not a judge, and he or she is not simply any unbiased third party.  The educational requirements for parenting coordinators in Florida are quite strict. To be a parenting coordinator, you must have a medical degree and be certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, or else you must hold a master’s degree either in family mediation or in a mental health field. You must have three years of professional experience working as a psychiatrist or mental health professional. You must complete a family mediation training program, in addition to a parenting coordinator training program; the latter program includes 24 hours of classroom instruction. Having previously been found guilty of child abuse or domestic violence disqualifies you as a parenting coordinator. Additionally, parenting coordinators must keep what is said at parenting coordination meetings confidential, and they must avoid conflicts of interest with any parties involved.

Do You Still Need an Attorney?

Parenting coordination is much less expensive than litigation, but it is not free. At the same time, while parenting coordinators know a lot about the emotional well-being of children and parents after a divorce, they are not lawyers. Divorce without lawyers is not possible for most couples.  Even the simplest divorces, in which the couple does not have children together and has very little in terms of marital assets, sometimes require the services of one or more lawyers.

While a parenting coordinator certainly has an informed opinion about what is in the children’s best interest and how to set and achieve goals based on that, a parenting coordinator’s advice is not really a substitute for professional legal advice. For one thing, parenting coordinators only help with agreements regarding the parenting plan.  hey do not deal with division of property, which is often the second most controversial issue in a divorce after issues related to parenting.

Contact Alan Burton About Child Custody Cases

Before you meet with a parenting coordinator, it is a good idea to discuss your case with a family law attorney. Contact Alan R. Burton in Boca Raton, Florida for a legal consultation.

Details of the Miranda Wilkerson Case

Trista Crews and Donald Coleman met and began their relationship in 1997, when she was 14 and he was 38. They married when Trista was 16, with Trista’s mother Rita Manning giving consent for her underage daughter to marry. Nonetheless, Coleman eventually had to register as a sex offender because of the age difference in his relationship with Trista. They would go on to have three children together before separating in 2007.

Trista was separated from Donald Coleman at the time of Miranda’s birth, and he filed for divorce at around that time because he doubted that he was Miranda’s biological father. About a month later, Trista died in a car accident, and her mother Rita Manning assumed responsibility for Miranda’s care. After a long custody battle between Manning and Coleman, a judge finally awarded custody of Miranda to Coleman, who was then living in Georgia. Miranda was then three years old, and she had lived with her grandmother almost since birth. Miranda’s biological father has since tried to get custody of her, but currently available news reports offer few details about that aspect of the case.

What About Grandparents’ Rights?

To anyone who has never dealt with Florida’s paternity laws, the outcome of the case is very strange indeed. Why would the court take a child away from her grandmother, the only parental figure she has ever known, and give custody to a man who has never claimed to be her biological father? Does the fact that Coleman is registered as a sex offender for beginning a relationship with a teenager when he was nearly 40 not weaken his case at all? It sounds like a case in which the court gave more weight to the mother’s legal marriage than to anyone’s relationship with the child. In Florida, parenting plans can include clauses about children spending certain amounts of time with grandparents, so one can hope that Miranda has been able to continue to have a close relationship with her grandmother.

Contact Alan Burton About Child Custody Cases

In determining child custody, judges are required to base their decisions on the best interests of the child. Contact Alan R. Burton in Boca Raton, Florida if you think that a family court has put your child or grandchild in a custody situation that is not in his or her best interest.

What Is a Guardian ad Litem?

A guardian ad litem is a person appointed to provide information about the child and his or her situation in order to help the judge make a decision about the child’s best interest. The guardian ad litem does not have custody of the child even temporarily; the child’s legal guardians remain the biological, adoptive, or foster parents. The guardian ad litem’s legal responsibility to the child is only to represent the child’s best interests before the judge.

In Florida, guardians ad litem are volunteers, and each guardian ad litem is assigned to only one child or family at a time. They come from all different professional and educational backgrounds. Regardless of previous work experience, they must take a training course to become qualified to work as guardians ad litem. Many of them have worked with children in their professional lives and have a keen sense of what constitutes a child’s best interest; many guardians ad litem are social workers, teachers, and healthcare workers.

The duties of a guardian ad litem include visits and meetings with the child, often at the child’s home or school. He or she might also meet with other people in the child’s life, such as teachers, relatives, and doctors, to gain information about what is in the child’s best interest. The guardian then prepares a report about the child and submits it to the judge. Judges use reports prepared by guardians ad litem to help them make decisions in family law cases.

Can a Guardian ad Litem Help Your Child Custody Case?

The most important duty of guardians ad litem is to protect children from abuse and neglect.  Most children who are appointed a guardian ad litem to represent them are currently or have previously been in foster care. Sometimes judges also appoint guardians ad litem in child custody cases, even when the children have only ever lived with their parents, either together or separately. In divorce, it is common for parents to disagree about what is in the best interest of the children. The parents present their respective sides of the story in court, and it is one person’s word against another’s. A guardian ad litem is an unbiased source of information about the child, and his or her report can help the judge determine what is actually best for the child.

Contact Alan R. Burton About Your Divorce

Alan R. Burton is a marital and family law attorney in Boca Raton, Florida. Contact Alan R. Burton with questions about divorce and child custody, including if you think a guardian ad litem could help you and your ex-spouse arrive at an acceptable custody agreement.

In order to understand why this is the case, you should have a basic understanding of custody laws in Florida. First, there are two different aspects to child custody:

• Physical custody: the time you spend with your child visiting you or living with you; and
• Legal custody: the right to be a part of major decisions in the child’s life, including schooling, activities, religion, and medical care.

In Florida, physical custody is called “parenting time” and legal custody is often referred to as “parental responsibility.” How these rights are divided between parents is set out in a parenting plan that must be approved by the courts.

Florida law greatly favors joint parenting rights whenever possible and whenever it is in the best interests of the child. It is very difficult to demonstrate that denying one parent of any custody rights will be in the best interest of the child. Doing so will essentially terminate the rights of the other parent and that can only happen in very rare circumstances. Such circumstances may include a history of violent crime, serious abuse or neglect, substance abuse or addiction, or mental health disorders. Even under those circumstances, a court can allow the parent to have visits with the child that are supervised to ensure the child’s safety.

Trying to fight for sole custody requires you to show significant evidence that the parent is unfit to have any parenting rights to the court. Not only can these hearings involve airing personal dirty laundry in open court, but they can be extremely costly and time-consuming. An attorney can help you carefully consider if striving for sole custody is worth it in your situation. Instead of sole custody, you could seek one of the following solutions:

• Supervised visitation;
• No overnight visits with the parent if their lifestyle or living arrangement is questionable;
• The sole authority to make decisions for your child if the other parent cannot make rational and practical decisions.
• Shared custody with the condition of psychological evaluations or drug tests.

Contact a Knowledgeable Florida Child Custody Lawyer Today

While it may not be possible to obtain sole custody rights in many situations, there are cases that warrant such a determination. Boca Raton family law attorney Alan R. Burton will evaluate your situation and advise on whether seeking sole custody would be appropriate in your case. Even if you do not get full custody rights, we can fight to ensure proper restrictions are put in place to protect the wellbeing of your child. Please call for a free consultation at 954-229-1660 to learn more about our family law services today.

If You Agree to Relocation

If a parent plans to take a child over 50 miles away for more than 60 days, Florida law states they must obtain permission to do so from the other parent. In some situations, the other parent may simply agree to the relocation. Even so, the parents must submit an agreement to the court for approval before the move can take place. This agreement must also set out the new visitation and time-sharing schedule for after the move.

If You Do Not Agree

Cases can become significantly more complex if the noncustodial parent does not give his or her permission for the relocation. In such situations, the parent wishing to move must petition the court for permission to do so. If the other parent does not respond to the petition, the court will generally approve the relocation. If the other parent opposes the petition, a hearing will be held for the court to decide what is in the best interests of the child.

Many factors may be considered when determining whether a relocation would be in the best interests of the child. Some factors include the following:

• How the move will affect the child’s relationship with each parent, siblings, or others who are important to the child;
• How the move would affect the child’s physical, emotional, and educational well-being and development;
• What the child wants;
• The chances of preserving a meaningful relationship with the other parent after the relocation;
• The reasons the parent wants to relocate, including whether the reasons are valid and whether the move will increase the child and parent’s quality of life and financial circumstances.

Contact an Experienced Boca Raton Child Custody Attorney for a Free Consultation

Many issues regarding child custody can arise in the months and years after an initial custody order is issued. While relocation is one of the most serious issues that can affect child custody, parents can have major disagreements about vacations, education, health care decisions, and much more. It is critical to have representation by an experienced family law attorney who thoroughly understands child custody matters in Florida both in your initial case and any subsequent issues that come up. If you are facing a child custody case, call the law office of Alan R. Burton in Boca Raton at (954) 229-1660 for help today.