Shared parenting helps in aftermath of divorce

Florida Rep. Alex Andrade is sponsoring a bill that would hugely improve divorce for families in Florida. HB 843 creates a presumption that separated fathers and mothers equally share parenting time of their children whenever possible.

That would be good for kids, mothers, fathers, and society generally.

Judges often issue parenting-time orders that overburden mothers and marginalize fathers in their children’s lives. Some 62 studies show that kids in equal parenting arrangements do better in school, are happier, healthier, and less apt to involve themselves with illegal drugs and crime than are kids in sole care. Fathers desperately want to maintain meaningful relationships with their children following divorce, but are often prevented from doing so by outdated court practices.

The presumption of equal parenting time serves as a better starting point than the typical one of sole custody.

Plus, shared parenting is popular with survey after survey demonstrating that support for these laws crosses all boundaries of gender, race, age and party affiliation. Three years ago, Kentucky passed the first law in the nation to presume equally shared parenting time, a law supported by Kentuckians by a whopping 6-to-1 margin. Importantly, according to the Kentucky Administrator of Courts, the number of domestic violence allegations in divorce cases has dropped every year since the law became effective.

Rep. Andrade is to be lauded for HB 843, and it’s far past time the State of Florida put children’s welfare first.

Dawn Endria McCarty Tampa The author is the chair of the Florida Chapter of National Parents Organization.