Category: Child Custody

The coronavirus has brought a whole new type of family law dispute into relevance when it comes to custody issues. A number of doctors, first responders, and other healthcare workers here in Florida have found themselves subject to emergency court orders, whereby they can very quickly lose shared custody of their children simply due to their profession until the pandemic is over.

Take one doctor in South Florida who was the subject of an NBC Miami story and whose child’s father requested and received an emergency order granting him sole custody entirely related to the COVID-19 outbreak even though she tested negative for the coronavirus because the judge deemed that it was necessary to “protect the best interests of the minor child,” including the child’s “safety and welfare.” While that same doctor was able to successfully appeal the emergency order, winning a return to their 50-50 shared custody arrangement while they await a final ruling, she and many others who are divorced parents are either in constant panic or busy fighting these orders, suffering through disrupted lives while they try to help those battling the virus during their workday and custody rights during their personal time.