Child Custody and Time-Sharing in Hendry County, Florida

A Hendry County child custody or time-sharing case begins with a petition filed at 25 E. Hickpochee Avenue in LaBelle, the address of the Hendry County Courthouse and Clerk's office. Call (863) 675-5217 to confirm current intake hours before you drive in from Clewiston or elsewhere in the county. Hendry belongs to the Twentieth Judicial Circuit, which shares judges and family-court programs with Charlotte, Collier, Glades, and Lee counties.

The Clerk's Family Law web page lists the case types the office handles: dissolution, paternity, adoption, name change, and both domestic violence and repeat violence injunctions. It does not post a dollar figure for what filing costs. Court costs run through a separate online payment system with no browsable fee list, so call ahead instead of budgeting from the website.

Every Hendry case touching parental responsibility or time-sharing needs Form 12.995(a), the standard Parenting Plan. Use Form 12.995(b) instead if time-sharing must be supervised. Add the UCCJEA Affidavit, Form 12.902(d), which lists everywhere the child has lived in the last five years. Both parents must also complete an approved Parent Education and Family Stabilization Course before a judge signs off on a final parenting arrangement.

When a Hendry time-sharing dispute is contested, expect a referral to mediation first. That referral runs on the same Twentieth Circuit rule, Administrative Order 1.16, that governs Charlotte, Collier, Glades, and Lee, since Hendry does not run its own separate mediation office.

Where custody cases are heard in Hendry County, FL

Custody and time-sharing matters in Hendry County, FL are handled by the Twentieth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida, Hendry County, with the county seat in LaBelle. Because courthouse locations, hours, and local family court programs change over time and can differ between branches, use the Florida court clerk directory to confirm the current details for your case:

Find the Hendry County, FL Clerk of Court (Florida court clerk directory)

How custody is decided in Florida

Florida uses the same statewide rules in every county, including Hendry County, FL. Florida law no longer uses the words "custody" and "visitation" in the statute; instead, Florida Statutes chapter 61 uses "parental responsibility" (who makes major decisions for the child) and "time-sharing" (the schedule of when the child is with each parent). Parental responsibility can be shared or, in limited cases, granted solely to one parent. Judges decide time-sharing based on the best interest of the child, considering the factors listed in the statute, and Florida law does not favor a parent based on gender.

You raise parental responsibility and time-sharing inside a dissolution of marriage case, or, if the parents were never married, by first filing to establish paternity. The core steps are:

1. Open or use an existing case: a petition for dissolution of marriage, or a paternity case for unmarried parents.
2. File a proposed Parenting Plan (Florida Supreme Court approved family law form 12.995(a)) covering parental responsibility and a time-sharing schedule.
3. Serve the other parent and file proof of service.
4. Complete a parenting course if your circuit requires one for cases with minor children (Fla. Stat. 61.21).
5. Attend mediation if your circuit requires it before a contested hearing, then attend the hearing if you have not agreed. The court enters a Final Judgment with the Parenting Plan attached.

Florida does not use a fixed statewide waiting period for custody orders the way it does for some other filings; timing depends on your circuit's calendar and whether the case is contested. Parents who agree on a Parenting Plan can submit it for the judge's signature without a contested hearing, which is almost always the faster and less costly path in Hendry County, FL.

Local notes for Hendry County, FL

Filing fees in Hendry are hard to pin down from outside the courthouse. The Clerk's court-costs page routes through paychoice.civiteksolutions.com, a payment-search tool rather than a static schedule. The honest answer for how much this will cost: call the Clerk's office at (863) 675-5217 and ask.

Hendry, Glades, Charlotte, Collier, and Lee together make up the Twentieth Circuit. Several family-court functions, supervised visitation under Administrative Order 12.3 and Unified Family Court under Administrative Orders 12.2 and 12.4, run the same way across all five counties rather than each maintaining its own separate version. That consistency helps, but it also means Hendry-specific details, like which agency currently supervises visitation in LaBelle, are not always posted locally. The Clerk's office is the fastest way to get a current answer.

Because Hendry is one of the circuit's smaller counties by population, don't expect a walk-in self-help storefront like some larger counties in the circuit have. Call before visiting, and bring your own copies. The courthouse's notary and copying availability isn't confirmed, so don't count on it being there.

Official custody resources in Hendry County, FL

Hendry County Courthouse handles custody filings, located at 25 E. Hickpochee Ave., LaBelle 33935. Phone: (863) 675-5217.

E-filing is available through https://www.myflcourtaccess.com. Florida Courts E-Filing Portal, linked from hendryclerk.org. Court costs and fees are handled through a third-party payment portal without a browsable public fee schedule; call the Clerk to confirm current amounts.

Hendry Clerk Family Law page (https://www.hendryclerk.org) can help with procedure and paperwork. The Family Law page lists case types handled, including dissolution, name change, domestic violence and repeat violence injunctions, adoption, paternity, and support, but no dedicated self-help center or published fee amount was found. Phone (863) 675-5217.

• Hendry County Clerk of Court
• Twentieth Circuit AO 1.16 Court-Ordered Mediation
• Twentieth Circuit AO 12.3 Supervised Visitation Programs
• Florida Courts E-Filing Portal
• Form 12.995(a) Parenting Plan

Local details reviewed August 2026. Offices and locations can change, so confirm with the official sites above before you file.

Hendry County, FL Child Custody FAQs