Parent Education and Stabilization Course (aka Child First in Divorce)

The State of Florida requires all parties who have children who are divorcing (or if the parties were never married, but wish to establish custody, visitation, and/or child support, or a parenting plan) to attend a state approved Parent Education and Stabilization Course a/k/a Child First in Divorce. This class usually takes place on a Saturday and lasts about 4 hours. The class teaches parents how to adjust to the changes in their family and how to co-parent in a non-adversarial and nurturing way toward the children. This class is required by all judges in the State of Florida. If the class is not completed within 45 days of the service of the Petition, the judge may suspend or deny visitation of the parent who has not completed the class until the class is completed. The class is available online for those parents who do not reside within the State of Florida. The online class must be approved by the State of Florida and is only acceptable if the parent no longer resides in the State of Florida.

In Nassau County, this class is offered by McPherson Training Concepts in Yulee and Clear View Concepts in Fernandina Beach. Clear View Concepts is a new provider who has recently received certification and judicial approval. Both providers charge approximately $45 per person to take the course. Additional courses are available from each provider and may be taken as an option on an individual basis or ordered by the judge hearing the parenting plan case.

Other providers are located in Jacksonville, if those locations are more convenient for you. Click here for a state-wide list of providers, locations, fees, dates, and times.

How military divorces are different from civilian divorces

Military divorce proceedings present many challenges that are generally not present in a civilian divorce.  These aspects include:

 

• locating the military member,
• service of process upon the military member,
• service of process abroad,
• the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act which may stay the proceedings against a military member;
• which jurisdiction to file the proceeding;
• determining the military member’s legal domicile,
• creating appropriate custody and visitation schedules (now included as part of a comprehensive parenting plan and termed time-sharing and parental responsibility),
• calculating child and family support,
• obtaining child support without a Court order,
• garnishment of wages through the military pay system; and
• pension and property division including the Uniform Services Former Spouses’ Protection Act, calculating the military member’s vested time in the military and the spouse’s vested time for benefits, reenlistment bonuses, accrued leave time, military medical benefits, military commissary and exchange shopping privileges, and military ID cards. 
• A new benefit, worth up to $85,000, will become an issue on the near horizon.  Military members can transfer some of the G.I. bill benefit to their spouse and/or children.  What if a spouse takes advantage of this benefit, receives an education at the service member’s expense, then files for divorce? 

To discover how these aspects of military divorce affect your unique situation, please contact my office at (904) 321-0987.

Florida’s Best Interest of the Child Standard (Effective 10/1/08)

Florida’s “best interest” of children factors will change on October 1, 2008. Notice the clear emphasis on demonstrating parenting behaviors and a history of meeting the child’s needs. Keeping children away from the divorce case is another area that is now clearly spelled out in the law. Here are the new factors:

 

(a) The demonstrated capacity & disposition of each parent to facilitate and encourage a close & continuing parent-child relationship, to honor the timesharing schedule, and to be reasonable when changes are required.

 

(b) The anticipated division of parental responsibilities after the litigation, including the extent to which parental responsibilities will be delegated to third parties.

 

(c) The demonstrated capacity & disposition of each parent to determine, consider & act upon the needs of the child as opposed to the needs or desires of the parent.

 

(d) The length of time the child has lived in a stable, satisfactory environment and the desirability of maintaining continuity.

 

(e) The geographic viability of the parenting plan, with special attention paid to the needs of school-age children and the amount of time to be spent traveling to effectuate the parenting plan. This factor does not create a presumption for or against relocation of either parent with a child The permanence, as a family unit, of the existing or proposed custodial home.

 

(f) The moral fitness of the parents.

 

(g) The mental and physical health of the parents.

 

(h) The home, school, and community record of the child.

 

(i) The reasonable preference of the child, if the child is of sufficient age

 

(j) The demonstrated knowledge, capacity, & disposition of each parent to be informed of the circumstances of the minor child, including, but not limited to, the child’s friends, teachers, medical care providers, daily activities, and favorite things.

 

(k) The demonstrated capacity & disposition of each parent to provide a consistent routine for the child, such as discipline, and daily schedules for homework, meals, and bedtime.

 

(l) The demonstrated capacity of each parent to communicate with and keep the other parent informed of issues and activities regarding the minor child, and the willingness of each parent to adopt a unified front on all major issues when dealing with the child.

 

(m) Evidence of domestic violence, sexual violence, child abuse, child abandonment, or child neglect, regardless of whether a prior or pending action relating to those issues has been brought.

 

(n) Evidence that either parent has knowingly provided false information to the court regarding any prior or pending action regarding domestic violence, sexual violence, child abuse, child abandonment, or child neglect.

 

(o) The particular parenting tasks customarily performed by each parent and the division of parental responsibilities before the institution of litigation and during the pending litigation, including the extent to which parenting responsibilities were undertaken by third parties.

 

(p) The demonstrated capacity & disposition of each parent to participate and be involved in the child’s school and extracurricular activities.

 

(q) The demonstrated capacity & disposition of each parent to maintain an environment for the child which is free from substance abuse.

 

(r) The capacity & disposition of each parent to protect the child from the ongoing litigation as demonstrated by not discussing the litigation with the child, not sharing documents or electronic media related to the litigation with the child, and refraining from disparaging comments about the other parent to the child.

 

(s) The developmental stages & needs of the child and the demonstrated capacity and disposition of each parent to meet the child’s developmental needs.

 

(t) Any other factor that is relevant to the determination of a specific issue

 

These are the factors a judge will use when determining all child-related issues starting October 1, 2008. Remember, when the law changes there will no longer be a “primary residential parent” and parenting plans will be required.

 

Much more than a visitation schedule, parenting plans must be comprehensive and cover not only time sharing, but decision-making and child support.

 

Source:  Pamela S. Wynn, Esq.