Abbott v. Abbott, 98 So. 3d 616

Married 1995, divorced 2004; 2004 final judgment gave Mother sole parental responsibility and Father supervised visitation.
2004 mediated agreement allowed future reevaluation of visitation rights.
January 2008: Father moved to modify; stipulated judgment left child support same and expanded visitation to unsupervised; Father orally sought shared parental responsibility but did not plead it.
September 2010: Father petitioned again to modify, seeking reduced child support and overnight visitation; did not plead for shared parental responsibility.
March 2011: hearing and final judgment awarded Father reduced support, overnight visitation, and, contrary to pleadings, shared parental responsibility; no discussion at hearing indicating change in parental responsibility.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether awarding shared parental responsibility without pleading is error.	Abbott (Mother) argues no pleadings or discussion supported the change.	Abbott (Father) contends modification may include unpleaded relief if argued at hearing.	Yes, error; sole parental responsibility must remain with Mother.
Whether the other modifications (support, visitation) were properly granted.	Mother opposed additional changes not properly challenged.	Father prevailed on requested modifications.	Affirmed the modifications other than parental responsibility.

Wade v. Hirschman, 903 So.2d 928 (Fla.2005) (presumption of correctness in modification and need for pleaded relief)
Nabinger v. Nabinger, 82 So.3d 1075 (Fla.1st DCA 2011) (unrequested relief constitutes abuse of discretion)
Escobar v. Escobar, 76 So.3d 958 (Fla.4th DCA 2011) (unrequested relief constitutes reversible error)
Ruble v. Ruble, 884 So.2d 150 (Fla.2d DCA 2004) (modification relief must be pleaded and argued)
In re Gregory, 313 So.2d 735 (Fla.1975) (foundational standard for modification proceedings)
Hudson-McCann v. McCann, 8 So.3d 1228 (Fla.5th DCA 2009) (modification standards and procedural requirements)