Uncontested Divorce With a Toddler and a Rotating Two-Week Parenting Schedule

The Situation

A married couple of about ten years, with one toddler, agreed to end the marriage and live separately. They shared a home in South Florida but filed in a different county under a written venue agreement. They owned no real estate and no joint bank or investment accounts. Each kept a car, and each kept their own accounts. The husband hired the firm, and the wife took part by reviewing and signing the documents. Their main questions were how to share time with a young child who has weekly therapy appointments, and how to divide debts that were each in one spouse's name.

What They Agreed On

The parents share parental responsibility and make major decisions together. The time-sharing schedule is a rotating two-week cycle that gives each parent one full weekend with the child and one full weekend free, which comes to roughly an even split of overnights. The plan builds exchanges around the child's standing therapy appointments. The firm calculated guideline child support on the standard worksheet, and the parents then agreed that no periodic support would be exchanged. The agreement states both figures and says the court reviews child support independently. The parents divide uninsured medical costs and shared child expenses 70% and 30%, the father keeps the child's health insurance, and the parents alternate the tax dependency exemption by year.

Each spouse waived alimony. Each keeps the vehicle and the accounts in their own name, and each remains responsible for the student and personal loans in their own name. One medical debt from the child's birth is shared equally. The wife kept her married name.

How the Case Moved

The firm drafted the full packet from the intake answers, and the spouses reviewed it. After review the documents changed in three ways: the wife decided to keep her married name instead of restoring a former one, the medical debt was split equally, and the parenting schedule was changed from a fixed weekly pattern to the rotating cycle. The documents were then signed before a remote online notary. The first attempt to pay the court filing fee was refused, so filing waited until the husband updated his payment card. The court entered the Final Judgment 3 days after filing, 60 days after hire.

What Slowed It Down

The parents changed their minds on the name, the debt split, and the schedule after the first draft, so the documents were revised and signed again. The refused card added a short wait before filing.

What Other Couples Can Take From This

Parents of a young child who want an even split can write a rotating schedule instead of fixed days, and the plan can account for recurring medical appointments from the start. Settling name, debts, and schedule before signing avoids revisions and keeps the notary session to a single sitting.