Missed Weekends and Empty Driveways: What Florida Law Does When a Parent Ignores a Custody Order

A parenting plan can look airtight on paper, down to the hour of every exchange. Then Friday pickup comes and goes with no child at the door. Or the other parent quietly stops showing up for their scheduled time. Either way, the question is the same: does the order actually mean anything if one parent decides not to follow it?

In Florida, it does. The Legislature wrote specific consequences into the time-sharing statute, and at least one of them is not optional for the judge.

A Violation Can Run in Either Direction

Most people picture a violation as one parent keeping the child away from the other. That is the most common scenario, but not the only one. Florida Statutes § 61.13(4)(c) addresses both a parent who refuses to provide time-sharing and a parent who does not properly exercise the time they were given. Repeated cancellations and last-minute no-shows can fall on the wrong side of the order too.

The statute also focuses on refusals made without proper cause, which leaves room for genuine emergencies. A child running a high fever on exchange day is very different from a parent who simply dislikes the schedule.

Why Child Support and Parenting Time Are Not a Trade

When support payments stop, some parents assume they can hold back parenting time until the money shows up. Others stop paying because they have been denied time with their child. Florida law treats these as separate obligations. Under § 61.13(4)(a) and (b), a parent who is owed support still has to honor the time-sharing schedule, and a parent being denied time still has to pay ordered support. Self-help in either direction usually creates a second violation instead of fixing the first.

What the Court Can Order and What It Must Order

Makeup time is the one remedy the statute treats as mandatory. After calculating how much time-sharing was improperly denied, the court is required to award enough extra time to compensate, at the expense of the parent who broke the schedule. Beyond that, the court has discretion to:

• Require the noncompliant parent to pay reasonable court costs and legal fees
• Order completion of an approved parenting course
• Assign community service, if it will not interfere with the child’s welfare
• Shift the cost of maintaining contact when the parents live more than 60 miles apart
• Modify the parenting plan if the change serves the child’s best interests
• Impose other reasonable sanctions, including contempt of court

That modification option deserves a second look. One missed exchange is unlikely to reshape a parenting plan. But one of the best interest factors in § 61.13(3)(a) is each parent’s demonstrated willingness to honor the time-sharing schedule. A pattern of violations can follow a parent into a later modification case, which is why the paper trail around each missed exchange often carries real weight.

Speak With an Orlando Attorney Before the Pattern Sets In

Has your parenting plan started to feel more like a suggestion than a court order? At Anderson & Ferrin, we know how quickly one skipped weekend can turn into a months-long standoff. Our Orlando custody enforcement attorneys can review what has happened in your case and walk you through the options available. We offer a free initial consultation, evening and weekend meetings by appointment, and hablamos español. Call us at 407-412-7041 or send us a message online to get started.

Source:

leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099/0061/Sections/0061.13.html