Changing a Florida parenting plan or support order Changing a Florida parenting plan or support order

The moving parent must prove a substantial and material change since the final judgment, and that modification serves the child's best interests under the section 61.13 factors. What clears the bar in practice: a parent's relocation dynamics (moves of 50+ miles have their own statute — see below), sustained interference with time-sharing, safety developments — substance abuse, untreated mental health crises, domestic violence findings — a child's substantially changed needs, or a schedule that has demonstrably collapsed. What doesn't: ordinary co-parenting friction, a child growing older by itself, or relitigating the original judgment with new adjectives.

Two Florida-specific notes worth their weight in fees. First, the 2023 equal-time-sharing presumption applies in modification proceedings once a substantial change is shown — meaning a parent who once accepted a minority schedule may, after proving changed circumstances, negotiate in the shadow of a 50/50 presumption. That reshapes settlement math across the state. Second, when a parent moves within 50 miles of the child, that move itself may be considered a substantial change opening the door to modification — a 2023 addition aimed at parents who moved away and later moved back.

A parent seeking to move 50 miles or more for at least 60 days needs agreement or court permission under section 61.13001 — a strict, technical statute where procedural missteps are fatal. It's a different animal from ordinary modification: relocation in Florida.

Support modification requires a substantial change meeting the statutory threshold — generally a difference of at least 15% per month from the existing order — arising from income shifts, schedule changes, insurance changes, or a child's needs. Retroactivity reaches the filing date, not the hardship date: file when the change happens, not when the arrears hurt. Calculation mechanics live at child support in Florida.

Brown Carrington builds Florida modification cases on records — communication logs, school and medical documentation, financial proof — before we file. That's why ours get granted.