If you’re going through a divorce, child custody may be your most pressing issue. If both parents want to remain involved in their children’s lives, custody may turn into an ugly battle, which is not in the best interests of your kids. And you’ll be hearing a lot about your children's best interests. Many divorcing parents want to know whether Florida is a 50/50 state or whether the local law gives preference to the mother. None of these things matter in the Sunshine State's custody laws. The only thing included and the only thing a family judge is required to consider is what it’s in the children's best interests. You have two options here - let the judge decide what’s best for your kids or work out a custody plan with your (former) significant other. The best way you can do that is by sitting down with some experienced Fort Lauderdale custody lawyers and drawing up a plan.Who will get custody of the children?The term custody is no longer used in Florida. Nor will you hear about primary residence. The law in Florida has been altered to refer to custody arrangements as ‘time-sharing’ with the children. However, the problems remain the same.As a matter of principle, Florida judges will look for an agreement allowing both parents to stay involved in the children’s lives as having a meaningful relationship with both mother and father is in a child’s best interests.If at all possible, the judge will propose joint physical custody, or what they now refer to as ‘equal time-sharing’. This means that the children would spend a roughly equal amount of time with either parent. The other option is sole custody or ‘majority time sharing’. Instead of letting the judge decide, the parents can work out physical custody arrangements. What you have to consider is finding a way so your children's’ lives won’t be disrupted by going back and forth between the respective houses of their parents. If the parents live nearby and the kids would have easy access to their school, doctor, or extra-curricular activities, joint physical custody would be a good option. A skilled Fort Lauderdale custody lawyer can help you draw a viable joint physical custody plan which you can then submit to the judge for approval. Another thing to decide is legal custody. This has nothing to do with where the child lives. It’s about who gets the right to make important decisions for the children - such as the school they go to, medical decisions, special needs issues, basically anything that requires the involvement of the legal guardian.

Functional Electrical Simulation Device Improves Gait in Children with Cerebral Palsy; image by NIH Image Gallery, via Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0.

Knowledgeable Fort Lauderdale custody lawyers usually recommend joint legal custody, and the judge would also favor such an option. This allows both parents to have a say in their children's lives, and it also gives the kids a sense that they have both parents watching over them. However, joint legal custody is only possible if the parents can work together as a team, which is not always an option after a bitter divorce.Does the child have a say in a Fort Lauderdale custody agreement?Under Florida law, there is no particular age when the court must consider the child’s preference. In the strictest sense of the law, a child under the age of 18 cannot choose which parent they want to live with. However, most judges will hear out a child over the age of 12 or 13, even younger if the kid is mature enough to express such a wish. Yet, the judge is under no obligation to grant the child’s expressed wish.