Florida Supreme Court Defines Substantial Change in Child Custody Modification Proceedings

In Wade v. Hirschman, the Florida Supreme Court decided that trial courts should use the “substantial change” test when modifying custody agreements, unless the final judgment says otherwise. This decision may have a big impact in the Second and Third districts, where a finding of “detriment” had been required before custody agreements could be modified. This effectively overrules the previous test used in those districts. In Gibbs v. Gibbs, the father wanted to change the custody agreement so he could spend more time with his son as he got older. The court had to decide if there had been a big enough change in the situation to allow the custody agreement to be modified. The court said that the father didn’t prove that there was a big enough change in the situation to take the child away from the mother. They also said that the “detriment” standard used to decide custody changes had been around for a long time. So, the mother gets custody back. In the Perez case, a divorced couple had a rule that said their kids couldn’t move out of certain counties in Florida without permission. The mom wanted to move to Utah with the kids, and the dad initially agreed. But then he changed his mind and asked the court to stop the move. The court said the kids could move to Utah, but the dad appealed. The appeals court said the dad couldn’t prove that moving would be bad for the kids, so the move should have been allowed. The court determines custody of children in divorce cases based on what’s best for the child. In Wade’s case, the parents had a rotating custody plan, but the court decided it wasn’t working and gave the father primary custody. The mother didn’t agree with this decision and appealed, but the court said it could review the custody arrangement again based on what’s best for the child, without needing a big change in circumstances. The Florida Supreme Court had to settle a disagreement between two lower courts about when child custody arrangements can be changed. They decided that a parent seeking to change custody has to show that there has been a big change in circumstances since the original custody decision, and that it’s in the child’s best interest to change custody. This big change should not have been expected when the original custody decision was made. The court also said that the original custody decision should only be changed if there has been a really big change in circumstances. The Florida Supreme Court looked at how custody of children is decided in divorce cases, based on what’s best for the child. They found that different districts in the state use different tests for deciding if a change in custody is needed. Some say the change has to clearly be good for the child, while others say the current situation has to be harmful to the child. The court was worried that the harmful requirement doesn’t fit with Florida’s shared parenting law, and it could make it harder for a change in custody that would be good for the child. The Florida Supreme Court made a decision in the Wade case about when custody agreements can be changed. The court said that a “substantial change” test should be used for all custody agreements, not just ones where the parents share custody. This decision might lead to more custody cases being filed because it’s easier to prove a change is needed. Judge Anthony K. Black, who has a lot of legal experience, wrote this article on behalf of the Family Law Section of The Florida Bar.

Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/florida-supreme-court-defines-substantial-change-in-child-custody-modification-proceedings/