Sunrise, Florida - Broward County
Sunrise Child Custody Attorney
Parenting plans for west Broward families, written around real commutes across the county.
Sunrise sits at the western edge of Broward, which changes what a workable time-sharing schedule looks like. A weekday exchange between Sunrise and a parent who has moved east toward Fort Lauderdale or the beaches means Sunrise Boulevard, Oakland Park Boulevard or I-595 at rush hour. Plans that ignore that produce late exchanges, missed activities and a return trip to court.
We build schedules around the geography instead: exchanges at school or aftercare so neither parent waits in the other's driveway, mid-week dinner time that does not require a 40-minute drive each way, and clear pickup responsibility for practices and games around Sawgrass and Markham Park.
Many Sunrise households also work shifts, at the hospitals, at the arena and at the Sawgrass Mills corridor. Where one parent works nights or weekends, a standard alternating-weekend plan often gives that parent almost no real time with the child. We write schedules to the shift pattern that actually exists.
Where a Sunrise parenting case is heard
- Sunrise is in Broward County, so the case proceeds in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, with family matters heard at the Broward County Courthouse in downtown Fort Lauderdale.
- Broward also operates west-county courthouse facilities, but plan on downtown Fort Lauderdale for family division hearings.
- The court must approve a written parenting plan covering decision-making, the time-sharing schedule, holidays, and how parents communicate and exchange information.
- Judges apply the best-interest factors of section 61.13, Florida Statutes, and expect parents to attend mediation and complete a parenting course.
- Relocating a child 50 miles or more, including a move west or out of the county, requires written agreement or court approval.
Sunrise questions we hear
For the full statewide overview of this area of law, see our child custody page.