Background
Anthony Shiraz Mohammed appealed a Broward County circuit court judgment modifying the parties’ parenting plan and timesharing schedule for their child.
The modified plan required the parents, if they disagreed over medical treatment, to obtain a second opinion and made that opinion binding on both parties. Mohammed argued that this provision improperly gave a third party authority reserved to the court.
The Court’s Holding
The Fourth District agreed. Section 61.13(2)(c), Florida Statutes, requires the court to determine matters relating to parenting and timesharing according to the child’s best interests. A provision making a second medical opinion binding unlawfully delegated that decision-making authority to a third party.
The court rejected the mother’s argument that the clause was merely a dispute-resolution mechanism designed to reduce future litigation. Preventing judicial involvement in medical-treatment disputes was precisely why the provision was improper. The court also rejected the assertion that access to emergency or modification proceedings cured the problem, because a “binding” opinion carries a legal obligation to obey.
The court affirmed the judgment on the father’s other, unspecified appellate arguments, reversed only the binding-second-opinion provision, and remanded for an amended final judgment deleting it.
Key Takeaways
- A parenting plan cannot make a third party’s medical opinion binding when parents disagree about treatment.
- Courts retain sole authority to decide parenting and timesharing matters under section 61.13(2)(c).
- Reducing post-judgment litigation does not justify delegating the court’s best-interests decision-making role.
Why It Matters
The decision reinforces limits on parenting-plan provisions that seek to resolve future disputes through therapists, physicians, guardians ad litem, or other third parties. Courts may impose conditions and structure parental decision-making, but may not transfer final authority over child-related matters that Florida law places with the court.