Delete Pages From Legal Florida Abandonment Forms For Free

Abandonment: The official charge for abandoning a child in Florida is ?unlawful desertion of a child,? which occurs when a caregiver deserts a child under circumstances in which he or she knew (or should have known) that the desertion exposes the child to an unreasonable risk of harm.

In Florida it is rare for either parent to get sole parental responsibility and custody. However, it is not impossible. In order for a court to grant full custody to either parent, the court must determine that shared parental responsibility would be harmful to the children and not in their best interests.

While there is no guarantee of a specific custody arrangement, the state of Florida generally favors shared parental responsibility and encourages frequent and continuing contact with both parents, unless it's determined that such an arrangement would not be in the best interests of the child.

The first step is filing a petition to terminate parental rights. Most often, this is done by a court-appointed guardian ad litem for the child or the person stepping up to take emergency custody of the child. The petition has to show legal cause for terminating parental rights.

In addition, a parent who cannot be located for 60 or more days can have his or her parental rights terminated by the court. When a parent threatens the well?being of the child.

The biggest change is in regards to the presumption of time-sharing. As a result of this change, courts are now directed to presume that an equal time-sharing arrangement, or a 50/50 split, is in a child's best interests.