The Law Office of Gail Cheatwood, P.A.

Lakeland Parenting Plan Lawyer | Family Law Attorney

Experienced Parenting Plan Lawyer, Gail Cheatwood, providing professional Parenting Plan, Divorce and Family Law Attorney Legal Services in Lakeland, Winter Haven, Bartow, Polk County, Tampa, and Central Florida.

Call 863.686.0975 to speak to Lakeland Parenting Plan Lawyer, Gail Cheatwood about your legal needs.

In 2009 "The Custody and Visitation Guidelines Committee of the Family Law Advisory Group" revised the Statues relating to Child Custody and Visitation issues. In doing this, new terms replaced commonly used terms. Child Custody is now known as a "Parenting Plan" and Visitation is now referred to as Timesharing.

One of the reasons for the change in terms is to create a court order that addresses many child related issues at once, instead of custody, visitation, support and other issues being separate issues. The objective in adopting Parenting Plans is to promote what is in the best interests of minor children, because there was a growing tendency of parents to bicker extensively over every possible custody issue, thus putting minor children in the middle of many disputes over long periods of time.

Parenting plans have given the judge the authority to make rulings in what he or she believes to be in the best interest of minor children that are involved. Unless just cause is proven in court that conditions or circumstances exist that the visitation rights of a parent should be limited, supervised, or denied, the judge will typically favor a parenting plan that provides a viable and continuous amount of time for the children to spend with each parent.

In the State of Florida, a Parenting Plan can define everything from:

  • Who the minor child will primarily reside with;
  • Which parent will be responsible for paying child support, and how much that child support will be;
  • How frequently the father or mother gets to visit the child;
  • Holiday schedules for the minor children to spend with each parent;
  • Who will be responsible for paying for extracurricular activities like cheerleading, dance classes, organized sports gear, or even going to the movies with friends;
  • Who chooses where the child will go to school and other education decisions;
  • Who must pay for medical bills relating to the minor child;
  • Or any other choices or needs of the minor child.

Parenting plans can be simple or very complex. They may be so complex at times that even issues regarding the religion the minor child will be raised in may sometimes be an issue that must be resolved.

In a nutshell, any type of decisions that affect the minor child may be fair game to be resolved in a parenting plan. In the court's eyes, it is better to resolve all issues at once rather than constantly put the children in the middle of many separate disputes over a long period of time.

Call 863.686.0975 to schedule a confidential legal consultation with Lakeland Parenting Plan Attorney, Gail Cheatwood about your legal needs.



Law Office of Gail Cheatwood, P.A.
Attorney, Gail Cheatwood | 863.686.0975

Lakeland and Polk County FL Attorney

Parenting Plan, Divorce, Family Law Lawyer in the Lakeland and Central Florida Area, including Polk County Florida, Lakeland, Winter Haven, Bartow, Auburndale, Babson Park, Bowling Green, Bradely Junction, Brewster, Combee Settlement, Crooked Lake Park, Crystal Lake, Cypress Gardens, Davenport, Dundee, Eagle Lake, Fort Meade, Frostproof, Fussels Corner, Gibsonia, Green Pond, Haines City, Highland Park, Highlands City, Hillcrest Heights, Jan Phyl Village, Inwood, Kathleen, Lake Alfred, Lake Hamilton, Lake Wales, Lakeland Highlands, Mulberry, Polk City, Willow Oak, Wahneta, Waverley.




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