How to modify child custody and parenting time in Florida

Sources last checked 3 November 2026. Information only, not legal advice.

Florida divorce kit Modifying child support or alimony in Florida After your divorce: changing a support or custody order

The short version

In Florida you ask the circuit court to change a parenting plan or time-sharing schedule by filing a supplemental petition. The court’s own form is Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.905(a), Supplemental Petition to Modify Parental Responsibility, Visitation, or Parenting Plan/Time-Sharing Schedule and Other Relief. The copy we read carries the date (11/15) in its footer. Section 61.13(3) of the Florida Statutes says a determination of parental responsibility, a parenting plan, or a time-sharing schedule may not be modified “without a showing of a substantial and material change in circumstances” and a determination that the modification is in the best interests of the child. For changing child support or alimony instead, see modifying child support or alimony in Florida.

What must be shown

The statute, section 61.13. Subsection (3) says “the best interests of the child must be the primary consideration” when modifying parental responsibility or a parenting plan, including a time-sharing schedule. Subsection (2)(c) says that modification of a parenting plan and time-sharing schedule “requires a showing of a substantial and material change of circumstances”.
A move within 50 miles. If the parents lived more than 50 miles apart when the last order establishing time-sharing was entered and a parent then moves within 50 miles of the other, subsection (3) says the move “may be considered a substantial and material change in circumstances” for modifying the time-sharing schedule, so long as the court also finds that the modification is in the child’s best interests.
What the court’s form says. The form’s instructions and its paragraph 3 add a word the statute text does not use: they refer to an “unanticipated change in circumstances”. The petition has you state that, since the final judgment or last modification, there has been such a change and explain it.
The best-interests factors. Subsection (3) says the court evaluates “all of the factors affecting the welfare and interests of the particular minor child”, and lists factors (a) to (t). They include each parent’s capacity to encourage a close and continuing relationship and to honor the time-sharing schedule, the length of time the child has lived in a stable, satisfactory environment, the child’s reasonable preference if the court finds the child able to express one, evidence of domestic violence, sexual violence, child abuse, abandonment or neglect, and any other relevant factor.
Equal time-sharing. Subsection (2)(c)1 sets out a “rebuttable presumption that equal time-sharing of a minor child is in the best interests” of the child, unless the section provides otherwise or the parties agree. It also says the court must “make specific written findings of fact when creating or modifying a time-sharing schedule”, except where the parties agree to a schedule and the court approves it. We did not read case law on how these rules work together in a modification case.

What the form asks for

Whether the parties were granted a final judgment of dissolution of marriage or of paternity, and its date, with a copy of the final judgment and any modification attached.
The paragraph or paragraphs of the final judgment or most recent modification that describe the present parental responsibility, visitation, or parenting plan and time-sharing schedule.
The substantial, material and unanticipated change in circumstances since the judgment or last modification, explained in your own words.
How you ask the court to modify the order, and why the modification is in the child’s best interests (paragraphs 4 and 5).
Whether you do or do not request that child support be modified along with the time-sharing change, and whether a Child Support Guidelines Worksheet and a Family Law Financial Affidavit are filed or will be filed.
Confirmation that a UCCJEA affidavit is filed with the petition, and that a Notice of Social Security Number is filed if it was not filed earlier in the case.
A line for other requests, then an oath that you are swearing the claims are true, with the punishment for knowingly making a false statement stated as fines and/or imprisonment. You sign before a notary public or deputy clerk. A nonlawyer who helped you fill out the form must complete a block at the end.

What to file with it

The form’s instructions say you must also file the following with the petition:

Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) Affidavit, Form 12.902(d).
Parenting Plan, Form 12.995(a) or 12.995(b). If the parties agree, both sign it. If not, you may file a proposed plan.
Notice of Social Security Number, Form 12.902(j), if not previously filed.
Family Law Financial Affidavit, Form 12.902(b) or (c).
If you are also seeking to modify child support: Child Support Guidelines Worksheet, Form 12.902(e), and Certificate of Compliance with Mandatory Disclosure, Form 12.932, which must be filed within 45 days of service of the petition if not filed with it, unless you and the other party agree not to exchange these documents.

Where, notice and what happens next

Where: section 61.13(2)(d) says the circuit court in the county where either parent and the child reside, or the circuit court that entered the original order, may modify the parenting plan. The form’s instructions say to file in the county where the original order or judgment was entered, and to speak with an attorney about where to file if the order was entered in another state or the child lives in another state. File the original with the clerk of the circuit court and keep a copy.
Service: the instructions say you must properly notify the other party of the supplemental petition. Use personal service if you know where the other party lives. Constructive service may be used only if you absolutely do not know. After personal service, the other party has 20 days to answer.
If there is no answer: after 20 days you may file a Motion for Default, Form 12.922(a).
If the other side agrees: if the respondent files an answer that agrees with everything in the petition, or an answer and waiver, and the required papers are filed, you may call the clerk, family law intake staff or judicial assistant to set a final hearing.
If the other side disagrees: if the respondent files an answer or a counterpetition that disagrees with anything in the petition and you cannot settle, you file a Notice for Trial, Form 12.924, after complying with mandatory disclosure and filing the required papers. The instructions say some circuits may require mediation before a final hearing is set, and that a parenting course may be required before a final judgment.
The judge’s role: the instructions say the judge decides parenting arrangements and the time-sharing schedule based on the child’s best interests if you cannot agree, and that “the court reserves jurisdiction to modify issues relating to the minor child(ren)”. The judge may request a parenting plan recommendation or appoint a guardian ad litem.
Temporary orders: to ask for temporary relief on time-sharing while the case is pending, the instructions point to the Motion for Temporary Support and Time-Sharing with Dependent or Minor Child(ren), Form 12.947(a).
Final judgment form: the family law forms include a Supplemental Final Judgment Modifying Parental Responsibility, Visitation, or Parenting Plan/Time-Sharing Schedule and Other Relief, Form 12.993(a), which the judge may use.

Before you file

The instructions say that if you do not fully understand the terms they list, you should speak with an attorney before going any further.
Filing fees: this page states no amount, because none of the sources we read gives one. The instructions say that if you do not have the money to pay the filing fee, you may get an Application for Determination of Civil Indigent Status from the clerk, and the clerk will decide whether you are eligible to have fees deferred.
See the Florida divorce kit for the wider process and for free or low-cost help.
Changing child support or alimony uses different rules. See modifying child support or alimony in Florida.

What we could not confirm

Filing fees and service costs. No source we read states an amount.
The current revision. The copy of Form 12.905(a) we opened from the court’s forms page is dated (11/15). We did not look for any later version beyond that page.
The other forms. We read the instructions’ description of Forms 12.902(b), (c), (d), (e) and (j), 12.913, 12.922(a), 12.924, 12.932, 12.947(a), 12.993(a) and 12.995(a) and (b), but we did not open any of them.
How courts apply the standard. We did not read case law, so we do not say how courts treat the form’s word unanticipated, the 50-mile rule, or the equal time-sharing presumption in a modification case.
The statute’s edition. We read section 61.13 as published in the 2025 Florida Statutes on the Florida Senate website, whose own disclaimer says the information on the system is unverified. We did not check for later amendments.
Other parts of section 61.13 and chapter 61. This page does not describe the rules on shared and sole parental responsibility in subsection (2)(c)2 to 7, the support provisions, or any relocation provisions. We did not read section 47.122 on venue.
Court rules and local practice. We did not read the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure, the Rules of Judicial Administration, or any circuit’s local rules, so we cannot say how mediation, e-filing or service work in your county.
The court’s other pages. We did not read the Getting Started page or the General Information for Self-Represented Litigants.

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