In a Florida child custody case, if the court sets a parenting plan designating timesharing rights for each parent and there is a reasonable and foreseeable risk that one parent may violate this plan or remove the child from the state or country, the court can take certain measures to ensure that this does not happen.

One of these measures is requiring the parent who is presenting the threat of violation to put forth a security or a bond. This bond can be cashed in, either in part or in whole, upon the parent's violation of the parenting plan, depending on the decision of the court. A family law court will first determine whether or not there is a need for a bond. If there is a need, then the court will set the amount for the bond. In Florida, a number of factors are taken into consideration when deciding this.

One of these considerations is whether or not a parent has taken or threatened to take a child out of Florida or any other state in violation of an agreement. For example, if a parent has previously violated a parenting plan by taking a child out of Alabama in a previous custody matter, there is a good chance that a judge may require a bond in the current Florida case.

Bottom Line: Your expert Florida family law attorney can guide you through the process of requiring a bond to protect your children.

(copyright Stann Givens 2009)