Connecting Nests

Florida · Alternating weekends

Alternating weekends in Florida

The child lives primarily with one parent and spends every other weekend with the other. In Florida this is written into a Parenting Plan, where time with a child is called time-sharing.

Build this plan for Florida — free

Template for educational use — not legal advice. Consult a licensed attorney in your state. Laws change; confirm current requirements with a licensed attorney in Florida.

The rotation

A = one parent, B = the other. Each cell is one overnight. This rotation divides regular school-year overnights 86/14 — about 313 and 52 nights a year.
WeekMonTueWedThuFriSatSun
1 AAAABBA
2 AAAAAAA
About that numberThis figure counts the weekend rotation only. Most alternating-weekend plans also split holidays and give the other parent two to four weeks in summer, which brings the real annual share closer to 20% — the figure usually quoted for this schedule.

What Florida expects

Florida uses 'time-sharing', not custody or visitation, and requires an approved Parenting Plan in every case involving minor children. The statute expects the plan to describe how parents share daily tasks, the time-sharing schedule, designation of who handles school and health care, and the technologies used to communicate with the child. Florida moved to a rebuttable presumption of equal time-sharing in 2023.

Governing law: Fla. Stat. § 61.13(2)(b).

Florida requires its own form — Family Law Form 12.995(a) — Parenting Plan. Agree your terms first, then transcribe them onto it.

The honest trade-off

Long the default in American courts, and still the most common order — but twelve days can pass between weekends, and the weekend parent rarely sees a school night or a homework fight. Most plans soften it with a midweek dinner.

Other schedules in Florida