What kinds of changes commonly justify modifying a custody or time-sharing order?

Courts in Florida have recognized a range of circumstances that may amount to a substantial change warranting modification, depending on the facts. Common examples include a parent’s relocation that makes the existing schedule unworkable, a significant and involuntary change in a parent’s circumstances, evidence of substance abuse or a serious deterioration in a parent’s mental or physical health, new evidence of domestic violence or abuse, and a persistent pattern of one parent failing to follow the existing parenting plan. Not every change qualifies — the law requires that it be substantial, material, and generally not something anticipated at the time of the original order. Because whether a given situation meets that standard is so fact-dependent, and because litigating it is difficult, resolving a proposed modification through mediation where possible is frequently in everyone’s interest, above all the children’s.