What is Timesharing?

Hello and welcome to 60 seconds with Sergio. I am your host Sergio Cabanas, attorney-at-law here in South Florida.
Thank you for joining me today. Today’s question is, Sergio what exactly is time sharing in relation to a case that involves a divorce or a paternity action? Well, basically the term time sharing is used in reference to describing the amount of time, each parent has with a child after a separation. We try not to use the word custody anymore because the word custody may show a certain preference like that one parent is better than the other. Like for example, if one parent is named as the primary custodian and the other parent just has rights to visitation, those terms are still used in other states. But in general we try to avoid those terms here in Florida, because it kind of shows favoritism of one parent versus the other especially in the light of the children. Time sharing is very important.
The idea is that, the parent that spends the most time with the children, would tend to need financial support from the other or is less likely to pay child support to the other, because of the fact that that parent is spending more time with the child. So not only does it have emotional and psychological impact as to the amount of time each parent has with the child, but also determines amounts of child support that would need to be paid in the case and by whom. So this has a very important significant consequences
in a divorce or paternity action. So, now that we figured that out, how does a court determine the amount of time sharing that each parent has with the child or children?
Well generally, it’s determined by the agreement of the parties. That is both parents can sit down and actually work out a schedule that’s convenient for the both of them, where each parent has time with the child.
Now one important consideration to keep in mind as we negotiate time sharing, is a fact that a court will generally always require that both parents have some type of time-sharing, and in fact, the court ideally will award both parents with equal time sharing. The court shouldn’t favor one parent over the other unless special circumstances exist, such as one parent may be a danger to the child in some
way, shape, or form. Such as that parent has a history of say, physical abuse, emotional abuse and have been neglectful or abandoned the child in the past. Then in those cases, the court may impose supervised time sharing or may suspend time sharing for a period of time, depending on some kind of outcomes such as therapy or some other intervention.
I hope this short video provided you with at least some basic information on a very complicated area of the law.
Of course is not a substitute for an actual consultation with an attorney who can review the specifics of your case and give you the appropriate advice.
Thank you again for joining me today and as always, stay informed, so you can stay strong.