Know Your Rights: Parental Kidnapping Cases in Florida

Parental kidnapping might seem like an odd concept, but it happens all the

time all over the USA. Sometimes it is accidental and other times it is quite

deliberate. Whether your child’s other parent is likely to take your child or

not, it’s an important bit of law to be familiar with.

What Is It

The law surrounding parental kidnapping is laid out in Statute 787.03.

Essentially, any time you fail to meet the guidelines of your custody

agreement, it could potentially become a parental kidnapping case. The law

describes it as anyone who has malicious intent in drawing a child away

from their rightful custody holder. This includes any sort of coercion used to

convince a child to leave with you. Respecting your child custody agreement

should always be a priority, but especially so considering parental

kidnapping is a felony of the third degree. Best practice is always to follow

your court ordered time-sharing plan, but there are sometimes extenuating

circumstances we cannot avoid.

Accepted Defenses

There are few situations in which the state grants you permission to

disregard the time-sharing plan. These situation are:

when you have reasonable cause to believe your child will be hurt if they

return to the other parent’s home

when you believe that you will be a victim of domestic violence if you

return the child to the other parent’s home

when the child has made their own decision to leave the other parent’s

home

In each of these cases, you must submit your report to the authorities. Most

officials will help to point you in the right direction here as to how to

proceed with getting an amended time-sharing agreement.

When To Report It

If your child’s other guardian hasn’t fulfilled their side of your time-sharing

agreement, it is best to report it as soon as possible. Especially if tensions

are high between you and your child’s other parent, you will want to call the

authorities right away. It may seem daunting to call the sheriff, but it’s

never a bad idea. Even if your child shows up soon after, they will have

record of the missed appointment. If the behaviour continues, you will be

able to show judges it is a pattern.