Tampa Florida Family Law Blog

Child custody disputes can be intense. While some parents are able to put their differences aside and make good choices about the health and welfare of their shared children, others cannot get past their disagreements with their former partners and, instead, take actions that may be detrimental to their kids. Parents in Florida can be accused of abducting their own children if their actions violate the custody and visitation agreements and orders that govern their family relations.

A case of parental abduction can have different legal ramifications. The matter may find its way into the criminal courts if the parent is charged with kidnapping. It is almost always also a civil matter, as parents may need to make significant changes to their operating custody orders and agreements to stop similar instances of abduction from happening again.

Child support is an important obligation that exists between a parent and their child. In Florida, a parent may be required to pay child support if they do not have physical custody of their child. As has been discussed previously on this blog, physical custody concerns where a child lives and which parent is responsible for the child's day-to-day needs.

In the event that a child's parents separate or divorce, a court will need to determine where that child will end up living. If the court decides that the child will split time between the households of the parents, then neither parent may be required to pay support, as each will be responsible for their child's needs when the child is in their care. It is when one parent is given physical custody and the other parent is not involved in the daily maintenance of the child's needs that child support may become relevant.

Parents who are going through a divorce may not understand the difficult and sometimes confusing laws that apply to the custody of children. They may, for example, be somewhat familiar with the idea of physical custody and the need for separated or divorced parents to split their kids' time between their different households. However, they may not have a full appreciation for the importance of legal custody and the important rights in bestows on parents.

Unlike physical custody, which addresses where a child will live, legal custody has to do with how and by whom important decisions regarding the child may be made. If a parent has legal custody, then they may be involved in the process of deciding important matters about their child's upbringing. Failing to maintain legal custody of a child may force a parent out of the loop of input when it comes to deciding, for example, where a child will go to school or how they will be raised in a system of religion.

Alimony is a legal obligation that can bind two people even after their divorce has been finalized. The duration of time that an alimony obligation will last in Florida will depend upon the type of alimony that is awarded by a couple's divorce court. Some forms of alimony have built-in timeframes and when they reach their stipulated ends the paying parties are freed from their obligations. Other forms of alimony, however, do not include these provisions.

For example, if a party to a divorce receives permanent alimony from their ex-spouse then that obligation will last for quite a long time. It may only end when the recipient passes away or elects to remarry. Conversely, a court may award durational alimony, which has a set end point, or lump sum alimony, which is paid only once in order to fulfill the paying spouse's obligation.