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Why Florida Requires Parenting Classes During Divorce
If you’re getting divorced in Florida and have minor children, you may wonder why the state requires you to take a parenting class.
After all, you already know your children. You may have been parenting them for years. And if you and your spouse agree on everything, taking a class can feel like one more requirement standing between you and finishing the divorce.
But Florida’s parenting course is not intended to teach you how to be a parent.
Its purpose is much more specific: helping parents understand how separation and divorce can affect children and how parental conflict, communication and family changes can affect them during and after the divorce.
Florida calls it the Parent Education and Family Stabilization Course, and the name gives us a pretty good clue about what the state is trying to accomplish.
Why Does Florida Require a Parenting Course?
Florida Statute §61.21 establishes the Parent Education and Family Stabilization Course for parents involved in certain family-law proceedings.
For divorcing parents with minor children, the course is designed to provide education about the effects of divorce on both parents and children.
The law recognizes something many families experience firsthand: the legal divorce may be between two adults, but the changes surrounding it affect the children too.
The parenting course gives parents an opportunity to look at the divorce process from their children’s perspective—not just from the perspective of the two people ending the marriage.
The Parenting Class Is Not About Deciding Who Is the Better Parent
Some parents hear “mandatory parenting class” and immediately wonder whether someone is questioning their ability to raise their children.
That is not the purpose of Florida’s Parent Education and Family Stabilization Course.
The course is educational. Florida law specifically provides that it is not intended to provide individual legal advice or individual mental-health therapy.
Both parents generally complete the requirement in a divorce involving minor children. It isn’t a punishment assigned to the parent who did something wrong.
Divorce Can Look Very Different Through a Child’s Eyes
Adults usually experience divorce through adult problems: paperwork, finances, housing, schedules, disagreements and decisions about what happens next.
Children may experience the same divorce very differently.
They may be dealing with changes to where they live, when they see each parent, school-day routines, holidays and the way their parents communicate with each other.
They may also hear or see conflict without fully understanding what is happening.
One purpose of parent education is to help parents become more aware of those effects while the family is adjusting to a new structure.
Reducing Parental Conflict Is an Important Part of the Course
Parents do not have to become best friends after divorce.
But when children are involved, the parents will often remain connected through school events, medical decisions, transportation, holidays, extracurricular activities and everyday parenting issues long after the divorce itself is over.
Florida’s parenting-course curriculum can include relationship and communication skills as well as education about family relationships and family dynamics.
The goal is not to repair the marriage. It is to help parents understand how their interactions can affect their children as the family moves forward.
Why Communication Matters After Divorce
A parenting plan may establish the schedule, but no document can anticipate every school project, sick day, delayed pickup or unexpected change that will happen while children are growing up.
Parents may still need to exchange information about:
- School and homework
- Medical appointments and healthcare
- Extracurricular activities
- Transportation and exchanges
- Schedule changes
- Holidays and special events
- Changes affecting the child’s daily routine
Learning ways to communicate about the children without turning every conversation into an extension of the marital conflict can make the parenting arrangement easier to manage.
Helping Children Adjust to a New Family Structure
Divorce usually changes more than marital status.
A child who previously lived with both parents may now spend time in two homes. Holidays may be divided differently. Transportation may become part of the weekly routine. Parents may establish new household schedules.
The Parent Education and Family Stabilization Course is intended to educate parents about the effects these kinds of family changes can have on children and parents.
Understanding that perspective can help parents think beyond simply dividing days on a calendar.
The Course Also Addresses the Responsibilities That Continue After Divorce
A divorce ends the marriage. It does not end the parents’ responsibilities toward their children.
Florida law allows approved parenting courses to include education about child-related legal issues and financial responsibilities to children, in addition to communication and family dynamics.
Those subjects matter because parents may continue making decisions and fulfilling responsibilities involving their children for many years after the final judgment is entered.
Why Take the Class If We Already Agree on Everything?
This is one of the most common questions we hear.
If you and your spouse have already agreed on your parenting plan, time-sharing schedule, child support and the rest of the divorce, it can seem strange that you still need a parenting course.
But the course isn’t designed only for parents who are fighting.
Its educational purpose applies to the family transition itself. Even cooperative parents and their children are adjusting to changes created by divorce.
That is why the parenting-course requirement generally applies in a Florida dissolution involving minor children even when the parents have reached a mutual agreement.
If you and the other parent agree on the terms of your divorce, our Mutual Agreement Divorce With Children guide explains that process.
The Parenting Course and the Parenting Plan Are Different Things
These two requirements are easy to confuse.
The parenting course is education for the parents.
The parenting plan is the document that describes how parenting will work after the divorce.
Taking the course does not create your parenting plan, choose your time-sharing schedule or make parenting decisions for you.
For more information about the actual document, see Florida Parenting Plan Explained.
How the Parenting Course Connects to Florida’s Focus on Children
Florida’s family-law system repeatedly focuses on the welfare and best interests of children when parenting decisions are involved.
The parenting course and the best-interests standard are not the same thing, but they reflect a similar child-focused principle: decisions made during a divorce can affect children well beyond the day the marriage legally ends.
If you want to understand how Florida evaluates parenting and time-sharing decisions, read our Best Interests of the Child in a Florida Divorce guide.
What Does the Florida Parenting Course Cover?
Florida law permits approved Parent Education and Family Stabilization Courses to cover topics including:
- The effects of divorce on children
- The effects of divorce on parents
- Family relationships and family dynamics
- Child-related legal issues
- Financial responsibilities to children
- Spousal and child abuse and neglect
- Relationship and communication skills
- The needs of children with identified special needs or emotional concerns
The course is intended to provide general education about these issues—not individualized legal advice, counseling or therapy.
Who Has to Take It, and When?
That’s where our other parenting-class guide comes in.
If you’re trying to find out who must take the course, the 4-hour requirement, the 45-day completion deadlines, whether you can take it online, what happens to your certificate or what can happen if you don’t complete it, we’ve put all of those practical requirements in one place:
Mandatory Parenting Classes in Florida Divorce →
Keeping those requirements on one page also makes it easier to check the information you actually need without digging through several different articles.
Take the Florida Parenting Course Online
If you already know you need the parenting course and are ready to complete it, you can take the approved 4-hour course online.
Take the Florida Parenting Course Online →
Parenting Classes Are One Part of Divorce With Children
The parenting course is only one part of a Florida divorce involving minor children.
Depending on your situation, the divorce documents may also need to address a parenting plan, time-sharing, child support and other child-related issues.
Our Divorce With Children in Florida guide explains how the larger process fits together.
Need Help With Your Florida Divorce Documents?
Divorce in Florida Online has helped Florida families prepare divorce documents for more than 15 years.
We are non-attorney document preparers. We prepare divorce documents based on the information and decisions you provide. We do not provide legal advice or represent either spouse.
No office visit is needed.
If you’re not sure which divorce process fits your situation, tell us a little about what’s happening and we’ll determine whether one of our document-preparation processes may fit.
Tell Us About Your SituationFrequently Asked Questions About Why Florida Requires Parenting Classes
Why does Florida make divorcing parents take a parenting class?
The Parent Education and Family Stabilization Course is designed to educate parents about the effects of divorce on parents and children. Approved courses may also address family dynamics, communication, child-related responsibilities and other issues families may experience during separation and divorce.
Does taking a parenting class mean the court thinks I’m a bad parent?
No. The course is a general educational requirement in Florida dissolution proceedings involving minor children. It is not a parenting evaluation or individualized therapy.
Why do we need the parenting course if our divorce is amicable?
The course is not limited to parents who are in conflict. Divorce changes family routines and relationships even when the parents cooperate, and the educational requirement generally still applies when minor children are involved.
Is the parenting class the same as a parenting plan?
No. The parenting course provides education for parents. A parenting plan is a court-approved document addressing parenting responsibilities, time-sharing and other arrangements involving the children.
Does the parenting course tell us what time-sharing schedule to use?
No. The course provides general education. It does not select your family’s time-sharing schedule or create your parenting plan.
Can we take the Florida parenting course online?
Yes. Florida has approved online course options. Our Mandatory Parenting Classes guide explains the practical course requirements and online completion in more detail.
Watch: Why Florida Requires Parenting Classes
Florida Law Used for This Guide
The Parent Education and Family Stabilization Course is governed by Florida Statute §61.21.
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Disclaimer: The information on this website is provided for general informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. Divorce in Florida Online is not a law firm, and no attorney-client relationship is created by the use of this website or its content. We do not provide legal advice or legal representation. Laws and procedures vary by case and may change over time. For legal advice regarding your individual circumstances, you should consult with a qualified, licensed attorney.