50/50 Custody in Florida: How the Equal Time-Sharing Law Works

Ask a few friends about custody in Florida, and you will likely hear the same claim: Florida is a 50/50 state now. For a parent facing a divorce or a breakup, that sentence carries a lot of weight. It shapes where you plan to live, how you arrange your work schedule, and what you expect when you finally sit down with the other parent.

The problem is that the claim is only half right. Some parents assume an equal schedule is guaranteed and stop preparing. Others fear they will lose half of their time with a child they have raised mostly on their own. Both reactions can lead to costly mistakes.

This guide explains how 50/50 custody in Florida actually works under the law that took effect in 2023, what a judge looks at, and what you can do to protect your relationship with your child.

Is Florida a 50/50 Custody State?

Yes, with an important qualification. Since July 1, 2023, Fla. Stat. § 61.13 has included a rebuttable presumption that equal time-sharing is in a child’s best interests. In practice, a judge now starts from a 50/50 schedule rather than from a blank page.

A presumption is a starting point, not a guarantee. Either parent can ask for a different arrangement, and the judge can depart from an equal schedule when the evidence shows that 50/50 would not serve the child.

Custody vs. Time-Sharing: The Terms Florida Uses

Florida law no longer uses the words custody and visitation. Instead, it divides parenting into two separate concepts:

• Parental responsibility: The right to make major decisions about the child, such as education and health care. In most cases, both parents share it.
• Time-sharing: The schedule that sets when the child is with each parent. The 50/50 presumption applies to this schedule.

Both pieces are written into a parenting plan, the court-approved document that governs how parents raise their child after they separate.

Because the law does not label either parent as the custodial parent, many families with an equal schedule wonder who is the custodial parent in 50/50 custody. Under Florida family law, neither parent is. The parenting plan instead designates which parent’s address will be used for school enrollment, and other areas of law, such as federal taxes, apply their own definitions.

What Florida’s 2023 Equal Time-Sharing Law Changed

The equal time-sharing rule, often called Florida’s 50/50 custody law, came from House Bill 1301, signed on June 27, 2023. It changed the starting point for every new parenting plan:

One question remains unsettled. Courts and commentators have debated whether the presumption also applies when a parent seeks to change a plan entered before July 1, 2023. If your family already has an older parenting plan, that issue deserves individual legal advice.

How a Parent Can Overcome the 50/50 Presumption

A parent who wants a schedule other than 50/50 must prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that equal time-sharing is not in the child’s best interests. In plain terms, the judge must be persuaded that it is more likely than not that a different schedule would serve the child better.

This is also the answer to whether a mother can refuse 50/50 custody, or a father for that matter. Either parent can oppose an equal schedule, but opposition alone is not enough. The evidence has to connect to the statutory factors the court is required to weigh.

The Best-Interest Factors Florida Courts Weigh

Section 61.13(3) lists 20 factors. In practice, they fall into a few groups:

• Support for the other parent: Each parent’s willingness to encourage the child’s relationship with the other parent, honor the schedule, communicate, and be reasonable when changes are needed.
• Day-to-day involvement: Who has handled routines, school, medical care, and activities, how much each parent relies on third parties, and how well each parent knows the child’s friends, teachers, and needs.
• Stability and logistics: How long the child has lived in a stable environment and whether the plan is geographically workable, especially for school-age children.
• Health and fitness: Each parent’s mental and physical health, moral fitness, and ability to keep a home free from substance abuse.
• Safety: Any evidence of domestic violence, sexual violence, child abuse, abandonment, or neglect, and any false information given to the court about those issues.
• The child’s needs: The child’s developmental stage, home and school record, and reasonable preference if the child is mature enough to express one.
• Protecting the child from conflict: Whether each parent keeps the litigation away from the child and avoids disparaging the other parent.

When Equal Time-Sharing Does Not Apply

In some situations, the presumption does not control the outcome:

• The parents agree: Parents can agree to any schedule, equal or not, and the court will generally approve it if it serves the child.
• Domestic violence convictions: A parent’s conviction for a first-degree misdemeanor or higher involving domestic violence creates a presumption that shared parental responsibility is detrimental to the child.
• Certain sexual offenses: A parent convicted of, or who had adjudication withheld for, certain sexual offenses involving a minor faces a presumption against any time-sharing.
• Sole parental responsibility: When shared decision-making would harm the child, the court can give one parent sole parental responsibility, with or without time-sharing for the other parent.

Even without a conviction, the court must treat evidence of domestic violence or child abuse as evidence of detriment to the child.

What Fathers Should Know About 50/50 Custody in Florida

Florida’s equal time-sharing presumption applies to both parents in the same way, regardless of gender. When fathers ask about their chances of getting 50/50 custody in Florida, the answer starts here: a married father begins the case on equal footing with the mother.

The picture is different for fathers who were never married to the child’s mother. Until paternity is legally established, the mother is the child’s sole natural guardian and is entitled to primary residential care. Since July 1, 2023, a father who establishes paternity, through a court order or a binding voluntary acknowledgment, becomes a natural guardian with the same rights and responsibilities as the mother. If the parents cannot agree, a time-sharing schedule must still be set through a court case.

How to Get 50/50 Custody in Florida

There is no single form that grants an equal schedule. The requirements for 50/50 custody in Florida come down to preparation, evidence, and the right filing:

1. Establish paternity if the parents never married: This step comes before any request for time-sharing.
2. Propose a detailed parenting plan: It must cover daily responsibilities, the time-sharing schedule, who handles health care and school matters, how the child will communicate with each parent, and where exchanges will take place.
3. Plan your housing around the child: Living near the child’s school and routine makes an equal schedule far easier to approve.
4. Document your involvement: School pickups, medical appointments, activities, and communication records show the court how you parent in practice.
5. Complete the parenting course: In a Florida divorce with minor children, both parents must complete a Parent Education and Family Stabilization Course before the final judgment.
6. File in the right court: Most Jacksonville cases are filed in the Fourth Judicial Circuit, either as part of a divorce or in a separate paternity or time-sharing case.
7. Prepare for mediation: Many contested time-sharing disputes in Duval County are resolved in court-ordered mediation before a trial.

Does 50/50 Custody Mean No Child Support?

No. Florida law states that an order for equal time-sharing does not prevent the court from ordering child support. In most families, the parent with the higher income still pays, usually less than under an unequal schedule.

The exact amount comes from a formula that weighs both incomes and the number of overnights, which is why child support with 50/50 custody rarely drops to zero. Our spousal and child support attorneys can run that calculation for your family.

If alimony is also part of the case, the order of the calculations matters. Our guide on how alimony and child support are calculated together explains that step.

Moving or Changing a 50/50 Schedule

Because an equal schedule depends on short distances, Florida limits moves. A parent who wants to move the child’s principal residence at least 50 miles away for at least 60 consecutive days needs the other parent’s written agreement or court approval. That is the practical answer to how far a parent can move with 50/50 custody in Florida.

Changing the schedule itself requires a substantial and material change in circumstances and a finding that the change serves the child. Our time-sharing modification attorneys handle both relocation and modification cases.

50/50 Custody for Military Families in Jacksonville

For parents stationed at NAS Jacksonville, Naval Station Mayport, or nearby installations, a deployment can disrupt even the best 50/50 plan. Florida addresses this through the Uniform Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act, adopted in 2018. Some online guides still cite the older statute it replaced, so make sure any advice you rely on reflects the current law:

• Early communication: A deploying parent must notify the other parent, and both parents are expected to communicate about a plan for the deployment period.
• Temporary agreements: Parents can agree in writing to a temporary arrangement without going to court.
• Expedited court relief: If the parents cannot agree, the court can resolve temporary custody on an expedited basis.
• Protection from permanent changes: A court cannot enter a permanent custody order before or during deployment without the service member’s consent.
• Help from relatives: The court can grant a nonparent, such as a grandparent, temporary caretaking authority or limited contact during the deployment.

How Weldon Law Group Can Help With 50/50 Custody

Time-sharing decisions shape your child’s daily life for years. At Weldon Law Group, PLLC, our Jacksonville child custody attorneys represent mothers and fathers throughout Northeast Florida, in English and Spanish. Our services include:

• Parenting plan preparation: Drafting detailed plans that support an equal schedule or the arrangement that best fits your child.
• Contested time-sharing cases: Presenting evidence on the best-interest factors, or challenging the other parent’s request.
• Paternity actions: Helping unmarried fathers establish legal rights and a time-sharing schedule.
• Relocation and modification: Pursuing or opposing moves and schedule changes.
• Military family cases: Planning for deployments under Florida’s deployed parents law.

Contact Weldon Law Group today to schedule a free consultation.

Frequently Asked Questions