Legal Considerations with Blended Families
Parents are increasingly getting remarried, which means they often blend children from their prior marriages. Blending two families together can feel like a challenge, but it has many rewards. Some of the challenges include clearly defining stepparent roles and giving children space.
At Hamilton O’Neill, we know that blended families also raise some legal questions. Contact our office if you are approaching remarriage and want to discuss the legal dimensions. Some of the most important issues revolve around whether you can relocate with your children, as well as trying to harmonize multiple timesharing agreements.
Common Legal Hurdles
Some of the most common issues involve:
- Parental Relocation
Florida does not give a custodial parent an automatic right to leave the state or move to a different part of Florida. Instead, you need the other parent’s permission since the move will impact their own relationship with the children and timesharing schedule. In many cases, our clients need to engage in negotiation or mediation to change the parenting plan. In other situations, they end up in court asking a judge for permission to move. Work with a lawyer who understands what evidence judges what to see before they give a parent the green light to move.
- Parenting Plans
Trying to meld different parenting plans takes a lot of work, and some blended families are floundering. For example, you might have to drop off multiple children at different locations as part of the relevant timesharing agreements. You and your spouse might be unable to coordinate schedules. Furthermore, parents can struggle to find time alone.
It might be time to revisit the parenting plan for all of your children so that it better aligns with both parents’ work schedules. For example, you might want to carve out a week each year to spend alone with your spouse, but the current parenting plans do not allow for that.
- Stepparent Rights
In some situations, a stepparent adopts the children, but that will not happen if the other biological parent remains in the picture. As a result, some of our clients are unclear about their legal rights as stepparents. Can you give permission for emergency medical procedures or school trips? What if the biological parent is out of the country but the children are living with you when these decisions must be made?
- Child Support
The child support calculation might change after remarriage. This is often an unwelcome surprise for many parents and something they did not plan for. Contact a lawyer to discuss whether remarriage will alter the child support you pay or receive. For example, you might have fewer overnights once you modify custody, so you end up paying more child support (or receiving less).
- Asset Preservation for Children
Once you remarry, your new spouse has rights to a share of the estate if they survive you. You might want to use a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement to waive this right and ensure that your assets flow to your children.
Call Hamilton O’Neill Today
Bringing two families together is an exciting challenge, and Hamilton O’Neill has your legal needs covered. Contact us to schedule a meeting with a Florida family law attorney.
Source:
flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/0061.13001