| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to child custody and visitation; amending |
| 3 | s. 61.13, F.S.; revising the application of a rebuttable |
| 4 | presumption that a parent is a detriment to his or her |
| 5 | child if he or she is convicted of a crime involving |
| 6 | domestic violence from a felony of the third degree or |
| 7 | higher to a misdemeanor of the first degree or higher; |
| 8 | requiring a court to make explicit written findings that, |
| 9 | when determining the best interests of a child for the |
| 10 | purposes of shared parental responsibility and visitation, |
| 11 | the court considered evidence of domestic violence and |
| 12 | child abuse; amending ss. 61.1827 and 409.2579, F.S.; |
| 13 | conforming cross-references; providing an effective date. |
| 14 |
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| 15 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 16 |
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| 17 | Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (2) and paragraph |
| 18 | (l) of subsection (3) of section 61.13, Florida Statutes, are |
| 19 | amended, present subsections (4) through (9) of that section are |
| 20 | redesignated as subsections (5) through (10), respectively, and |
| 21 | a new subsection (4) is added to that section, to read: |
| 22 | 61.13 Custody and support of children; visitation rights; |
| 23 | power of court in making orders.-- |
| 24 | (2) |
| 25 | (b)1. The court shall determine all matters relating to |
| 26 | custody of each minor child of the parties in accordance with |
| 27 | the best interests of the child and in accordance with the |
| 28 | Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. It is |
| 29 | the public policy of this state to assure that each minor child |
| 30 | has frequent and continuing contact with both parents after the |
| 31 | parents separate or the marriage of the parties is dissolved and |
| 32 | to encourage parents to share the rights and responsibilities, |
| 33 | and joys, of childrearing. After considering all relevant facts, |
| 34 | the father of the child shall be given the same consideration as |
| 35 | the mother in determining the primary residence of a child |
| 36 | irrespective of the age or sex of the child. |
| 37 | 2. The court shall order that the parental responsibility |
| 38 | for a minor child be shared by both parents unless the court |
| 39 | finds that shared parental responsibility would be detrimental |
| 40 | to the child. Evidence that a parent has been convicted of a |
| 41 | misdemeanor felony of the first third degree or higher involving |
| 42 | domestic violence, as defined in s. 741.28 and chapter 775, or |
| 43 | meets the criteria of s. 39.806(1)(d), creates a rebuttable |
| 44 | presumption of detriment to the child. If the presumption is not |
| 45 | rebutted, shared parental responsibility, including visitation, |
| 46 | residence of the child, and decisions made regarding the child, |
| 47 | may not be granted to the convicted parent. However, the |
| 48 | convicted parent is not relieved of any obligation to provide |
| 49 | financial support. If the court determines that shared parental |
| 50 | responsibility would be detrimental to the child, it may order |
| 51 | sole parental responsibility and make such arrangements for |
| 52 | visitation as will best protect the child or abused spouse from |
| 53 | further harm. Whether or not there is a conviction of any |
| 54 | offense of domestic violence or child abuse or the existence of |
| 55 | an injunction for protection against domestic violence, the |
| 56 | court shall consider evidence of domestic violence or child |
| 57 | abuse as evidence of detriment to the child. |
| 58 | a. In ordering shared parental responsibility, the court |
| 59 | may consider the expressed desires of the parents and may grant |
| 60 | to one party the ultimate responsibility over specific aspects |
| 61 | of the child's welfare or may divide those responsibilities |
| 62 | between the parties based on the best interests of the child. |
| 63 | Areas of responsibility may include primary residence, |
| 64 | education, medical and dental care, and any other |
| 65 | responsibilities that the court finds unique to a particular |
| 66 | family. |
| 67 | b. The court shall order "sole parental responsibility, |
| 68 | with or without visitation rights, to the other parent when it |
| 69 | is in the best interests of" the minor child. |
| 70 | 3. Access to records and information pertaining to a minor |
| 71 | child, including, but not limited to, medical, dental, and |
| 72 | school records, may not be denied to a parent because the parent |
| 73 | is not the child's primary residential parent. Full rights under |
| 74 | this subparagraph apply to either parent unless a court order |
| 75 | specifically revokes these rights, including any restrictions on |
| 76 | these rights as provided in a domestic violence injunction. A |
| 77 | parent having rights under this subparagraph has the same rights |
| 78 | upon request as to form, substance, and manner of access as are |
| 79 | available to the other parent of a child, including, without |
| 80 | limitation, the right to in-person communication with medical, |
| 81 | dental, and education providers. |
| 82 | (3) For purposes of shared parental responsibility and |
| 83 | primary residence, the best interests of the child, shall |
| 84 | include an evaluation of all factors affecting the welfare and |
| 85 | interests of the child, including, but not limited to: |
| 86 | (l) Evidence of domestic violence or child abuse, |
| 87 | including convictions, arrests, and attempts to obtain |
| 88 | injunctions for protection and other complaints. |
| 89 | (4) For purposes of shared parental responsibility and |
| 90 | visitation, the court shall make explicit written findings that, |
| 91 | when considering the best interests of the child, the court |
| 92 | specifically considered evidence of domestic violence and child |
| 93 | abuse as required by paragraph (3)(l). |
| 94 | Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section |
| 95 | 61.1827, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 96 | 61.1827 Identifying information concerning applicants for |
| 97 | and recipients of child support services.-- |
| 98 | (1) Any information that reveals the identity of |
| 99 | applicants for or recipients of child support services, |
| 100 | including the name, address, and telephone number of such |
| 101 | persons, held by a non-Title IV-D county child support |
| 102 | enforcement agency is confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) |
| 103 | and s. 24(a) of Art. I of the State Constitution. The use or |
| 104 | disclosure of such information by the non-Title IV-D county |
| 105 | child support enforcement agency is limited to the purposes |
| 106 | directly connected with: |
| 107 | (b) Mandatory disclosure of identifying and location |
| 108 | information as provided in s. 61.13(9)(8) by the non-Title IV-D |
| 109 | county child support enforcement agency when providing non-Title |
| 110 | IV-D services; |
| 111 | Section 3. Paragraph (e) of subsection (1) of section |
| 112 | 409.2579, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 113 | 409.2579 Safeguarding Title IV-D case file information.-- |
| 114 | (1) Information concerning applicants for or recipients of |
| 115 | Title IV-D child support services is confidential and exempt |
| 116 | from the provisions of s. 119.07(1). The use or disclosure of |
| 117 | such information by the IV-D program is limited to purposes |
| 118 | directly connected with: |
| 119 | (e) Mandatory disclosure of identifying and location |
| 120 | information as provided in s. 61.13(9)(8) by the IV-D program |
| 121 | when providing Title IV-D services. |
| 122 | Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2008. |