What If My Ex Won’t Follow the Parenting Plan in Florida?

A Florida parenting plan is a court order. When the other parent withholds the child, refuses exchanges, sabotages communication, or unilaterally rewrites the schedule, they are not just being difficult — they are violating an order the court has the authority to enforce. The remedies are defined, the statutory framework is specific, and the courts in Miami-Dade and Broward apply them seriously when the violations are documented.

The mistake most parents make is reacting emotionally instead of strategically. Self-help — withholding the child in retaliation, withholding child support, calling the police mid-exchange — generally hurts the case rather than helping it. The parents who get real results are the ones who document carefully, file the right motion, and let the court do the work.

The Governing Statute

Florida Statute § 61.13(4) is the operative provision. Section 61.13(4)(c) reads, in part: “When a parent refuses to honor the other parent’s rights under the time-sharing schedule . . . the court shall, after calculating the amount of time-sharing improperly denied, award the parent denied time . . .” and then enumerates a series of mandatory and permissive remedies the court may order.

That word — “shall” — matters. When time-sharing has been improperly denied, the court is required to award certain relief, not merely permitted to do so. The targeted parent is entitled to remedies, and the violating parent does not have discretion to avoid them.

The Remedies the Court Can Order

Under § 61.13(4)(c), Florida courts can order any one or combination of:

Make-Up Time-Sharing

The court must award the targeted parent a sufficient amount of extra time-sharing to compensate for the time improperly denied. The make-up time is to occur “as soon as possible,” and the court determines the schedule. This is the baseline remedy in nearly every successful enforcement case.

Modification of the Parenting Plan

In appropriate cases, the court can modify the parenting plan to better protect the targeted parent’s time-sharing rights — including, in serious cases, by shifting majority time-sharing to the targeted parent. A pattern of denial can itself qualify as the substantial and material change required for modification under § 61.13(2)(c).

Attorney’s Fees and Costs

The court can order the violating parent to pay the targeted parent’s attorney’s fees, court costs, and other expenses incurred because of the violation. Florida courts increasingly use this remedy as the practical penalty that makes enforcement matter — a parent facing a fee award typically modifies their behavior more reliably than one facing make-up time alone.

Civil Contempt

The court can hold the violating parent in civil contempt — and in serious cases, order incarceration as a coercive sanction until compliance is achieved. Contempt requires (1) a clear court order, (2) the parent’s willful failure to comply, and (3) the parent’s present ability to comply. Incarceration is rare in family enforcement cases but available when nothing else has worked.

Required Parenting Course

The court can require the violating parent to complete a parenting course at their own expense.

Required Community Service

The court can order community service hours.

Other Reasonable Sanctions

The catch-all provision lets the court craft remedies that fit the specific violation pattern.

What Counts as “Refusing to Honor” the Schedule

The statute applies to a wide range of violations. Common patterns:

Outright Withholding

The parent refuses to bring the child for scheduled exchanges. The most clear-cut violation. Documentation is straightforward — text messages, email, missed exchange records, witness testimony.

Late Pickups and Drop-offs

Chronic lateness that erodes the targeted parent’s time. A pattern of being 90 minutes late at every exchange shifts hours of time over weeks and months. Calendar records and exchange logs prove the pattern.

Unilateral Schedule Changes

The parent changes the schedule by fiat — keeping the child for an extra day, taking the child on travel during the other parent’s time, enrolling the child in activities that conflict with the other parent’s schedule. Florida courts treat unilateral modification as a violation regardless of how reasonable the violator considers their reasoning.

Communication Sabotage

Blocking phone calls during the other parent’s time, refusing to facilitate scheduled video calls with the child, intercepting communications between the targeted parent and the child. Section 61.13(2)(b)4 requires plans to specify communication methods, and interfering with that communication is enforceable.

Refusing to Share Information

Withholding school records, medical information, activity schedules, or contact information for treating providers. Section 61.13(2)(c)4 generally entitles each parent to access to school and medical records — interfering with that access is enforceable.

Coaching the Child to Refuse

A pattern of conditioning the child to refuse the other parent’s time. Distinct from cases where the child has independently developed reluctance based on the other parent’s actual conduct. The distinction is important — see our post on emotional abuse and parental alienation for a deeper discussion.

Relocation Without Consent or Court Permission

Moving more than 50 miles for 60 or more consecutive days without the other parent’s written consent or court permission violates § 61.13001. The remedies for unauthorized relocation are severe — courts have ordered immediate return of the child and modified time-sharing in favor of the non-relocating parent.

What Doesn’t Count

Several things parents sometimes claim as violations are not actionable on their own:

• The other parent’s parenting choices during their own time-sharing — bedtimes, meals, activities, religious practices — generally are not violations unless the plan specifically governs them.
• Disagreement about decisions covered by shared parental responsibility is a parental-responsibility issue, not a time-sharing violation. The remedy is mediation, parenting coordination, or — in serious cases — modification of decision-making authority.
• Brief, occasional schedule adjustments that the parties have historically accepted without complaint typically do not support enforcement on their own. Pattern matters.
• The other parent’s relationship choices — new partners, dating, remarriage — are not violations unless the plan contains a specific morality clause.

The goal is to focus enforcement on what the plan actually addresses, not to use the enforcement process as a back-door route to modify the plan or punish the other parent for life decisions.

Documentation: The Foundation of Every Enforcement Case

Enforcement motions live and die on documentation. Florida judges hear “he never brings her on time” constantly — the parents who win are the ones who can prove it.

Keep an Exchange Log

A simple spreadsheet or shared parenting app log of every scheduled exchange: scheduled time, actual time, location, who was present, any notes. Six months of consistent late arrivals on a log is dramatically more persuasive than any narrative testimony.

Save Every Communication

Texts, emails, voicemails, parenting-app messages. Florida courts admit these regularly. The communications are often the case — particularly when the violating parent has put the violations in writing themselves.

Use a Shared Parenting App

Our Family Wizard, AppClose, TalkingParents, and similar tools create automatic timestamped logs of exchanges, communications, and schedule disputes. Many Florida judges order these tools in high-conflict cases for exactly this reason. Even when not ordered, voluntary use creates the evidentiary record that supports later enforcement.

Photograph the Exchange Locations

When the other parent fails to appear, a photograph at the agreed location with timestamp is documentary evidence the other parent cannot rebut.

Identify Third-Party Witnesses

A neighbor who has observed exchanges, a relative who has been present, a teacher who has noted late pickups — third-party witnesses carry more weight than family.

Track the Actual Hours

Section 61.13(4)(c) requires the court to “calculate the amount of time-sharing improperly denied.” A parent who can produce a clean calculation — total hours due, total hours actually exercised, the difference — gives the court exactly what the statute asks for.

How to File a Motion for Enforcement

The procedural steps:

1. Send a Demand Letter (Often, Not Always)

In some circuits and case types, a written demand for compliance — with a defined response deadline — is a useful first step. It establishes the violation, gives the other parent a chance to cure, and provides additional documentation if enforcement becomes necessary. In other situations — particularly serious ongoing violations or relocations — proceeding directly to motion is appropriate. Counsel can advise based on the specific facts.

2. File a Motion for Enforcement

The motion should:

• Identify the order being violated by date and case number.
• Describe the specific violations with dates, times, and supporting documentation.
• Calculate the time-sharing improperly denied.
• Request specific relief — make-up time, attorney’s fees, sanctions, modification.

3. Set the Hearing

Most circuits set enforcement motions for hearing within 30 to 60 days. Truly urgent matters — particularly those involving safety, relocation, or imminent denial — can be set on shorter notice with proper procedural support.

4. Attend Mediation if Required

Some circuits require mediation before contested enforcement hearings. Mediation can produce faster, less adversarial resolutions and is often worth attempting even when not required.

5. Present Evidence at the Hearing

Bring the documentation. The exchange log, the screenshots, the photographs, the witness testimony. Florida judges hear motions like these constantly — the parent who walks in with organized, credible evidence stands out and gets results.

Common Strategic Mistakes

Withholding the Child in Retaliation

The single most damaging response to non-compliance. A parent who withholds the child in retaliation has now violated the order themselves and converted a clean enforcement case into a mutual-violation case in which both sides are at fault. Florida courts respond to mutual violations by penalizing both parties — and the parent who should have been the wronged party often comes out worse than they started.

Withholding Child Support

Equally damaging. Time-sharing and child support are governed separately under Florida law. Withholding court-ordered child support because the other parent is denying time-sharing is its own violation, subject to its own enforcement, including driver’s license suspension and contempt under Chapter 61 and the Department of Revenue’s child support enforcement program. See our Miami child support attorneys page for more.

Calling the Police for Civil Disputes

Police generally do not enforce family court orders. Officers responding to a civil exchange dispute typically advise the parties to seek a court remedy and leave. Repeatedly involving law enforcement in civil disputes can itself become evidence of poor co-parenting under § 61.13(3)(a) and (l).

Filing Without Documentation

A motion that says “she keeps denying my time” without specific dates, times, and evidence is usually denied — and the filing parent loses credibility for the next motion. Build the case before filing.

Treating One Incident as a Pattern

A single missed exchange is a poor enforcement case. A documented pattern across months is a strong one. Courts reasonably distinguish between isolated incidents and systematic non-compliance.

Filing Repeated Motions Over Minor Disputes

A parent who files monthly motions over routine schedule frictions can themselves be sanctioned under § 61.16 for unnecessary litigation. Reserve enforcement for genuine violations.

When the Court Should Modify the Plan

Repeated violations can support modification of the parenting plan itself. Under § 61.13(2)(c), modification requires a substantial and material change in circumstances and that the modification serves the child’s best interests under § 61.13(3). A pattern of one parent’s chronic non-compliance can be the substantial change — and the appropriate modification often involves shifting majority time-sharing to the targeted parent, restricting the violating parent’s discretion, or requiring supervised exchanges.

Modification motions in this context are often filed alongside (or instead of) enforcement motions. The strategic choice depends on the goal: enforcement seeks compliance with the existing order; modification seeks a new order better adapted to the demonstrated dynamics. Both can be appropriate.

When Safety Is the Concern

If the violations involve child safety — substance abuse during pickups, physical violence at exchanges, the child being placed in dangerous situations — the analysis changes. The path is generally:

• Document everything immediately.
• If there is imminent danger, call 911 and report to DCF under Chapter 39.
• File an emergency motion for protective relief, supported by detailed factual affidavits.
• Consider a domestic violence injunction under Chapter 741 if applicable. Our Miami domestic violence attorneys page has more.

Genuine safety emergencies move differently and faster than ordinary enforcement matters. Recognizing the difference matters.

Frequently Asked Questions

What can I do if my ex won’t follow the parenting plan?

File a motion for enforcement under § 61.13(4)(c). Document the violations carefully — dates, times, communications, witness information. The court can award make-up time-sharing, attorney’s fees, contempt sanctions, parenting courses, community service, and in repeated-violation cases, modification of the parenting plan.

Can I withhold child support if my ex denies my time-sharing?

No. Florida law treats child support and time-sharing as separately enforceable obligations. Withholding court-ordered child support exposes you to your own enforcement action — including license suspension, contempt, and (in serious cases) incarceration. Address each violation through the proper enforcement channel.

How long does an enforcement motion take?

Typically 30 to 90 days from filing to hearing in Miami-Dade and Broward, depending on the court’s docket. Truly urgent matters can be set on shorter notice with appropriate procedural support.

Can I get attorney’s fees if I have to enforce the plan?

Yes — under § 61.13(4)(c), the court can order the violating parent to pay your attorney’s fees and costs. Florida courts increasingly use fee awards as the practical penalty that makes enforcement matter.

What if my ex moves out of state without permission?

Unauthorized relocation more than 50 miles for 60 or more consecutive days violates Florida’s relocation statute, § 61.13001. Remedies can include a court-ordered immediate return of the child and modification of the parenting plan in favor of the non-relocating parent. Move quickly — relocation cases benefit from prompt motion practice.

Can the court change custody for repeated violations?

Yes. A pattern of one parent’s chronic non-compliance can itself be the substantial and material change required for modification under § 61.13(2)(c). In serious cases, courts have shifted majority time-sharing to the targeted parent.

My child says they don’t want to come — is that a valid reason for my ex to keep them?

No. The other parent’s obligation under the order does not depend on the child’s stated preferences. A parent who relies on the child’s resistance to justify denial of time-sharing is still violating the order, and Florida courts have specifically rejected this defense. The proper path for either parent who believes the child’s preferences should change the schedule is a modification motion — not unilateral non-compliance.

Should I record exchanges?

Florida is a two-party consent state for audio recordings under § 934.03. Recordings made of the child speaking — when the recording parent is present — are typically lawful, but they often look coached. Video at exchange locations (recording the public scene) is generally lawful. Talk to counsel before recording anything; the rules are nuanced and the strategic value of recordings varies significantly by case.

Talk to Nest Law About Enforcement of Your Parenting Plan

Enforcement cases turn on documentation, patience, and the right procedural choices. The parents who get results are the ones who treat the process as a strategic problem rather than an emotional one — and who put their evidence in front of the court in the form the statute calls for.

At Nest Law, our Miami family law attorneys handle enforcement, contempt, and modification cases across Miami-Dade and Broward County, including complex cases involving repeated violations, unauthorized relocation, and parental alienation.

Schedule a confidential case evaluation to discuss your case.

This blog post is for informational purposes only and should not be considered legal advice. Florida family law is highly fact-specific. For guidance on your situation, consult a qualified Florida family law attorney.