Challenges of co-parenting have significantly increased during these interesting times. Co-parenting during “normal” times requires a high level of cooperation and trust. A higher level of that trust and cooperation is required during times of crisis. This will be especially challenging in high conflict situations.
Unfortunately, certain divorced parents who have a propensity to engage in high conflict behavior and parental alienation will take the social distancing orders and guidelines as a license to violate court-ordered parenting schedules. No matter what such persons believe, parenting schedules have not been modified or suspended by any of the orders issued by Governor DeSantis, the Supreme Court of Florida, nor our local courts.
Under Florida law, a parent’s violation of a parenting plan or parenting schedule can be addressed by filing a contempt or enforcement motion with the court and having a hearing on that motion. However, under the current orders from the Supreme Court of Florida addressing Covid-19 issues, some Circuit Courts, including Collier County, have decided not to conduct any evidentiary hearings in domestic relations court (divorce matters and other non-DCF related family law matters). As of the submission of this article, this is currently in effect through the end of May 2020. This means that a parent who feels their parenting rights are being violated by the other parent will have to wait several months to have their issues heard before the court.
However, because our local judges are aware of this trend of taking advantage of the crisis to keep a child from the other parent, it is the opinion of this author that when these issues are finally heard by the court, the judges will be heavy handed towards violators when using the court’s contempt powers.
The best plan for a parent who is having trouble exercising their parenting time during this crisis is to document each instance of violation with a journal, along with preserving all possible evidence including all communications with the other parent like texts and e-mails. Such information could prove invaluable once that day in court arrives.
If you are experiencing parenting challenges due to COVID-19, you should contact an experienced family law attorney to assist you as soon as possible.
Dale Klaus, a Partner at Coleman, Hazzard, Taylor, Klaus, Doupé & Diaz, PA in Naples, Florida, has exclusively represented clients in a wide variety of marital law, divorce law, and general family law matters since 2001.
