Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody

Usually a parenting plan that has been ratified by a final judgment in Florida remains in place until a party files a petition for modification and successfully convinces a court that there has been a substantial change in circumstances which warrants modification. An order temporarily modifying a permanent parenting plan can be entered if there is a showing of emergency circumstances. This was an issue in the case Esse v. Pepe-Katalinas, 5D20-2599 (Fla. 5th DCA November 12, 2021).

In 2012, a parenting plan was entered which granted the father majority time-sharing and the mother supervised time-sharing. The mother eventually filed a petition for modification of the parenting plan and subsequently her motion for appointment of a social investigator was granted. A report from the investigator was filed in 2018 recommending equal time-sharing. About two years later, the mother filed a motion for a temporary parenting plan, relying on the 2018 social investigation report. As the appellate opinion notes in this case: “The trial court’s November 19, 2020 written order granting Former Wife’s motion stated that there were ‘exigent circumstances’ warranting the temporary modification, and it further stated that the 2018 social investigation report indicated that there were ‘significant and compelling reasons’ for modifying time sharing on a temporary basis by increasing the time the child would spend with Former Wife. The order did not specify what the ‘exigent circumstances’ or ‘significant and compelling reasons’ were.” The court concluded “The 2018 social investigation report addressed and confirmed many of these allegations. However, as the trial court recognized, by the time of the 2020 hearing, that report did not contain current information and was no longer relevant. Former Wife presented no evidence during the hearing of any emergency situation. Indeed, she insisted that evidence of an emergency was unnecessary for the trial court to grant her motion. This is incorrect.”

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