SAMUEL SHAW, APPELLANT,
v.
ELIZABETH SHAW, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 2000-05-31
No. 4D00-0195
STEVENSON and HAZOURI, JJ., concur.
760 So. 2d 981 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (2000) Positive Treatment
Cited by 7 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

In this custody and visitation appeal, the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court's award of temporary sole parental responsibility to the mother, rejection of shared parental responsibility, and requirement that the father complete a parenting course before reconsideration of custody arrangements.


Holding

The court affirmed all aspects of the trial court's order. The court held that a trial court may order a non-custodial parent to attend a parenting course as a condition to reconsideration of custody pursuant to Florida law, that sole parental responsibility was properly granted based on ample evidence, and that vesting the mother with temporary control over visitation was not an abuse of discretion given her demonstrated good faith efforts to maintain the father-child relationship.


Headnotes

[1] A court may order a parent to attend a parenting course as a condition to reconsideration of custody, even if the parent is not the custodial parent.

[2] A trial court may award temporary sole parental responsibility to one parent when shared parental responsibility is found to be detrimental to the child.

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Key Quotes

“shared parental responsibility would be "detrimental to the minor child and not in her best interest at this time."”

Establishes the trial court's reasoning for awarding sole parental responsibility to the mother rather than implementing shared parental responsibility.

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Facts & Procedural History

The parents' marriage was dissolved with the mother filing the petition in April 1997. Over the approximately two-and-a-half years before trial, the f…

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Opinion of the Court
KLEIN, J. '

Appellant father raises a number of issues involving the trial court’s resolution of custody and visitation of the parties’ child. We affirm the order in all respects.

The trial court concluded that' shared parental responsibility would be “detrimental to the minor child and not in her best interest at this time.” The court accordingly awarded the mother temporary sole parental responsibility, ordered the father1 to attend a thirty-six week parenting coursé, and agreed to have a status conference after the father completed the course to revisit shared parental responsibility.

The trial court found that from the period when the mother filed the petition for dissolution of marriage, in April 1997, until the 'trial of this case almost two and one-half years later, the father had exercised visitation with his child only four times. The court further found that the mother would frequently attempt to schedule visitation but that the father would refuse it or sabotage it when it occurred. The court specifically found the mother to be credible and the father to be not credible.

One of the issues the father raises on appeal is that the court erred in ordering him to attend a parenting course because the mother had not requested that relief. He relies on Williams v. Williams, 690 So. 2d 601, 603 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996), in which the court stated:

As to point three, we must reverse the provision of the order requiring the former husband to obtain alcohol abuse counseling and to attend parenting classes. It is improper to enter an order which exceeds the scope of relief sought by the pleadings, absent notice which affords the opposing party an opportunity to be heard with respect to the proposed relief.

We do not agree with Williams to the extent that it requires that attendance at parenting classes must be plead. Section 61.13(4)(e) authorizes a court to “order the custodial parent to attend the parenting course approved by the judicial circuit.” Although this father is not a custodial parent at this time, we see no reason why the court could not have required the father to attend a parenting class, as a condition to the court’s reconsideration of custody. Nor do we agree with the father that the trial court erred in granting sole parental responsibility to the mother until he completes the parenting course. There was ample evidence to support both requiring the father to attend the parenting course and granting sole parental responsibility for now.

The father also complains that the trial court gave the mother complete control over his visitation. Although that may generally be error, Letourneau v. Letourneau, 564 So. 2d 270 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990), it was not improper under the specific facts in this case. The trial court found that the mother had at all times been attempting to maintain a relationship between the father and his child and had gone above and beyond the call of duty. Vesting her with control under those circumstances, which was only temporary until the father completed the parenting course, was not an abuse of discretion. Once the father completes the parenting course, the visitation must then be set by the court.

We have considered the other issues raised by the father and find them to be without merit. Affirmed.

STEVENSON and HAZOURI, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Moncher v. Kris Maine, 892 So. 2d 1147 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005)
    …t was an abuse of discretion to render an order that exceeded the scope of relief sought by the pleadings, “absent notice which affords the opposing party an opportunity to be heard with respect to the proposed relief.” Id. at 603. In Shaw v. Shaw, 760 So. 2d 981 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000), however, the Fourth District Court of Appeal considered the subject in a somewhat different context. There, the trial court had for consideration the dissolution of the marriage between the parties, including all of the issues a…
  • Shaw v. Shaw, 816 So. 2d 540 (Fla. 2002)
    …PER CURIAM. We granted review of Shaw v. Shaw, 760 So. 2d 981 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000), based on apparent conflict with Williams v. Williams, 690 So. 2d 601 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996). Upon examination of the record, we have determined that jurisdiction was granted improvidently. Accordingly, because we find no alternativ…
  • Anangelica Roman v. Lopez, 811 So. 2d 840 (Fla. 3d DCA 2002)
    …lorida Statutes (2001), authorizes parenting courses. In addition, section 61.13(4)(c)(2), Florida Statutes (2001), authorizes a court to “order the custodial parent to attend the parenting course approved by the judicial circuit.” See Shaw v. Shaw, 760 So. 2d 981, 982 (Fla. [*841] 4th DCA 2000). Although Chapter 741 governs domestic violence petitions, section 741.30(6) (a)(3), Florida Statutes (2001), grants the court authority to enter an order granting temporary custody of a minor child “[o]n the same bas…

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