Can my child spend the summer with family in another country?

Yes, if the parenting plan allows it. Extended foreign travel should be written in with dates, notice, contact during the trip and a firm return obligation.

My child's other parent lives abroad. Where is the case decided?

That depends on the child's home state under the UCCJEA and on any existing foreign order. It should be resolved at the outset, before either parent spends money litigating in the wrong forum.

I am worried my child will not be returned from a trip. What can be done?

Courts can require written consent for travel, hold passports, order bonds or itineraries, and in urgent circumstances enter emergency orders. Raise the concern before the trip, not after.

Miami, Florida - Miami-Dade County

Miami Child Custody Attorney

Parenting plans for Miami families, including cases with relatives and property abroad.

Miami parenting cases often cross borders. Extended family in another country, dual citizenship, a parent whose work requires long stretches abroad, or a plan for summers overseas all need to be addressed explicitly. A parenting plan that says nothing about passports, international travel consent or where a child is to be returned invites an emergency later.

Language and household structure matter too. Many Miami children are raised in part by grandparents or other relatives, and schedules that ignore that support system look tidy on paper and fail in practice. We write plans that reflect who actually gets the child to school and to the doctor.

Where a parent is already outside Florida or has filed elsewhere, the first question is jurisdiction, governed by the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. Which court decides is frequently the case's most important issue and has to be handled quickly.

How Miami-Dade handles time-sharing

Miami cases are heard in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit; the family division sits at the Lawson E. Thomas Courthouse Center, 175 Northwest 1st Avenue, Miami.
A written parenting plan is required, allocating shared parental responsibility and setting the time-sharing schedule, holidays and communication.
The best-interest factors in section 61.13, Florida Statutes, control, and a parenting course is required.
Interstate and international disputes turn on jurisdiction under the UCCJEA, and international abduction concerns are governed by the Hague Convention where it applies.
Passport handling, written travel consent and notice of foreign travel can and should be written into the plan.

Miami questions we hear

For the full statewide overview of this area of law, see our child custody page.