In the Sunshine State, laws governing major court decisions regarding children’s lives require judges to make decisions that will be in children’s best interests. In fact, this is true all 50 states and in many international agreements, so you could say that protecting children’s best interests is a universally recognized priority.
The best-interest standard is applied in virtually all important legal aspects of kids’ lives such as custody, parental decision-making power, parenting plans, visitation, time-sharing schedules, adoption and termination of parental rights. Critics of using the best-interest rule sometimes say that it gives too much unbridled discretion to judges without adequate parameters.
Florida statutes direct courts in matters of best interests
But Florida laws contain detailed judicial guidance. Our state court opinions provide many examples of what judges have considered in making these tough decisions about children and families. Consider subdivision (3) of the statute governing (among other things) parental responsibility, time-sharing schedules (physical custody and visitation) and parenting plans setting out details of these matters.
The statute repeatedly points to the best interests of the child as the “primary consideration.” It directs that a judge determine a child’s best interests “by evaluation of all of the factors affecting the welfare and interests of the particular minor child and the circumstances of that family, including, but not limited to” items in a list of 20 specific factors.
Specific factors to consider
In other words, the court must consider the listed factors that might determine a child’s best interests, but the judge is free to consider other relevant things in the child’s life that impact their welfare.
Some of the listed factors include:
- The parents’ ability to put the child’s needs first
- The desirability of continuing an established “stable, satisfactory [living] environment”
- Parental “moral fitness” and “mental and physical health”
- The child’s “home, school, and community record”
- The child’s preferences if they are of “sufficient intelligence, understanding, and experience”
- History or danger of domestic or sexual violence, abuse or neglect
- Parental ability to keep a home “free from substance abuse”
- The child’s developmental stage and needs, and ability of each parent to meet them
It is smart for parents facing these legal issues such as in a divorce to seek out a family lawyer with extensive experience and understanding of how to demonstrate to the court a child’s best interests. A knowledgeable lawyer can also gather and develop additional evidence and arrange professional assessments if needed to prove the child’s particular, unique needs.
