In the State of Florida, what is the difference between full custody,
soul custody, and shared custody of a child in a divorce settlement?

misplacedcajun,

I have to give a full disclaimer that this is not legal advice. You
should consult a lawyer before engaging in any litigation or legal
activity. That being said, I can at least point you to the specific
Florida statutes which define terms related to custody and divorce.

A good place to start for any legal information at the state level is
the home page of the state government. In Florida, that would be:

   http://www.state.fl.us

From there you can usually find a trove of useful information,
including the full statutes of the State of Florida. Since state web
sites tend to be obscure, here's the direct link to the statutes:

   http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm

The reason I'm pointing you here is in order to let the law speak for
itself, specifically when it comes to definitions of terms, which is
what you're seeking. Connect to the Statutes site above then choose
the following links in order:

Title VI - Civil Practice and Procedure
   Chapter 61 Dissolution Of Marriage; Support; Custody 
      61.046 Definitions

You'll find a few definitions that may be useful. As I searched the
statutes I used the terms you suggested, "full custody," "soul [sic]
custody," and "shared custody" but didn't come up with your specific
terms as definitions. Assuming you had a typographical error, I also
used the term "sole custody." The definitions that appeared relevant
were:

START 61.046 ---------------------------------------------------------------

(3)  "Custodial parent" or "primary residential parent" means the
parent with whom the child maintains his or her primary residence.

. . .

(14)  "Shared parental responsibility" means a court-ordered
relationship in which both parents retain full parental rights and
responsibilities with respect to their child and in which both parents
confer with each other so that major decisions affecting the welfare
of the child will be determined jointly.

(15)  "Sole parental responsibility" means a court-ordered
relationship in which one parent makes decisions regarding the minor
child.

END 61.046 -----------------------------------------------------------------

It looks like we have legal definitions for "shared" and "sole" but
the term "full" doesn't occur in any relevant definitions that I could
find.

There is a broader section of the statutes that discusses custody in
general. Again, start at:

   http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm

Then choose in order:

Title VI - Civil Practice and Procedure
   Chapter 61 Dissolution Of Marriage; Support; Custody 
      61.13 Custody and Support of Children

The wording herein refers to the UNIFORM CHILD CUSTODY JURISDICTION
ACT which appears to be a piece of legislation adopted by most states,
including Florida, which covers custody issues in divorce cases. That
legislation can be found at:

   Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act
   http://www.law.upenn.edu/bll/ulc/fnact99/1920_69/uccja68.htm

and additionally:

   Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act
   http://www.law.upenn.edu/bll/ulc/fnact99/1990s/uccjea97.htm

In the Florida Statutes, this legislation appears to have been enacted
in the sections 61.1302 through 61.1348. Again, start at:

   http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm

then choose in order:

Title VI - Civil Practice and Procedure
   Chapter 61 Dissolution Of Marriage; Support; Custody 
      61.1302 ... 61.1348

This, too, has a section with definitions (specifically 61.1306
Definitions relating to Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act).
Again, there is no real resolution as to your specific terms, but if
you read these sections of the statutes you may get the answers you
need. They're not particularly difficult as far as the legal language
goes.

Often in the law when terms are not clearly defined, it is only
through litigation, or case law, that their meanings become defined.
What that means is that when people go to court to argue about
something, when the case is decided the decision contributes to future
decisions. As terms are clarified in such cases, their meanings are
referred to in future cases. Thus case law is ever changing. In order
to determine the effect of case law in Florida on your definitions as
you seek them, the ONLY way to get an authoritative answer would be to
consult an attorney.

My attempt here is to point you to the available information, and,
again, not tender legal advice of any kind.

fugitive-ga

Not only did I get a decent answer, I got references, links to Florida
law and Florida Statutes that can help me help my daughter. From these
links I believe other questions I have or that may come up will help
us find the answers. Thank you fugutive-ga. Thank you for keeping the
crazy hours I keep and for being so swift in responding. You do good
work. God Bless you.

Hi, I did this research, and forgot to lock the question.. Most of it
is duplicated in the great answer you got above, but after all that
research, I thought someone should have it :-)

The term "Full Custody" doesn't appear to be a term used in Florida to
describe a legal status of custody. In fact Florida law does not
appear to provide for "CUSTODY" of children, but rather Florida has a
public policy to assure that each minor child has frequent and
continued contact with both parents after the parents separate or the
marriage of the parties is dissolved and to encourage parents to share
in the rights and responsibilities of child rearing. Therefore, the
Florida Courts will order Shared Parental Responsibility of the minor
children rather than "Joint Custody" or "Sole Custody".

However, sole parental responsibility will be ordered under certain
circumstances, when it would be detrimental to the child or would be
in the child's best interest for one parent to have sole parental
responsibility.

"Physical custody" means actual possession and control of a child. 

"Shared parental responsibility" means a court-ordered relationship in
which both parents retain full parental rights and responsibilities
with respect to their child and in which both parents confer with each
other so that major decisions affecting the welfare of the child will
be determined jointly.

"Sole parental responsibility" means a court-ordered relationship in
which one parent makes decisions regarding the minor child.


Links to look at :

Joint custody legislation in the U.S.
http://www.gocrc.com/research/legislation.html

DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE; SUPPORT; CUSTODY -- Florida State
http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=Ch0061/titl0061.htm&StatuteYear=2000&Title=%2D%3E2000%2D%3EChapter%2061

Florida Law -- Who Gets Custody? 
http://www.split-up.com/splitgen/sp/fl/custodyjointcustody.htm

Florida Family Law
http://www.floridafamilylaw.com/parent.htm


Queries Used :

+"Florida" +"Joint Custody"
+"Florida" +"Shared Custody"
+"Florida" +"Full Custody"


Thanks for the question. 

webadept-ga

to webadept: Thank you for your research. I appreciate your work. It
was somewhat the same; however you did provide me with more sites than
I had before. You also provided me with the Queires. That will be
helpful to me in the future as I do more of my own research. Aslo, I
would not have thought of going to Florida Family Law. So your work
was appreciated. Seriously.