Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody

A parent may be held in contempt of a Florida parenting plan if he or she is willfully refusing to follow its terms. To show that a parent is intentionally refusing to abide by a court-ordered parenting plan, one requirement is that the court-ordered plan have clear and concise terms. This is illustrated in the case Lynne v. Landsman, 1D20-350 (Fla. 1st DCA November 4, 2020).

The parties’ Florida parenting plan contained a clause which stated “The children may have reasonable telephone or video-conferencing contact with the other parent any time. Neither parent shall use this provision as a pretext for unreasonably interfering with the other parent's time with the children." The father filed a motion for contempt of this clause, alleging the mother was not allowing him frequent communication with the children while they were with her. The mother argued she did not interpret the clause to mean daily phone calls, and that she did her best to encourage communication between the children and the father. The trial court nonetheless found the mother to be in contempt, fined her and mandated that the father be permitted a daily call with the children while they were with the mother. The mother’s motion for reconsideration on this matter was denied except for her challenge to the provision mandating daily calls for the father. The mother appealed.

The appellate court reversed the trial court’s order because it found the trial court’s interpretation of the order to be erroneous. The court held “The language of the provision is not clear and precise to place the former wife on notice of what her conduct had to be when the former husband called during her time-sharing. The final judgment mandates that the children have ‘reasonable’ contact with the other parent ‘any time,’ but does not define what those terms mean. Because the exact terms of contact were not defined and the terms were ambiguous, more detail was needed to be clear about each party's rights and responsibilities. While daily calls may have been the parties' practice in the past, it was not written into the final judgment. The final judgment is silent as to the frequency or details of what parent-initiated contact during the other parent's time-sharing was to be.”

If you need help enforcing a family court order or defending against an allegation that you are violating an order, contact a Miami child custody lawyer for assistance. A consultation can help you understand and interpret the provisions of your Florida parenting plan.