Hello, I currently live in Florida with my current Husband and Son of 2-1/2 yrs of age. I plan on leaving my Husband without him knowing do to possible fear of abuse after I told him I was leaving. I would leave my Son with his Father and would plan to pay for 1/2 of my Sons monthly expenses and would want to spend as much time with my Son as possible after things have settled down between my Husband and I. Would this be considered Child Abandonment? I plan on being their for my Child financially and also as a supporting Mother and wanted 1/2 custody approx 6 months out of a year.

No! Child Abandonment (except for a certain few states) is a criminal charge for leaving a child with NO adult supervision. Clearly not the case. Ans, since you plan on providing financial help to support the child, those areas where abandonment refers to failure to provide support, you would be clear.

On the other hand, if you just up and leave, then go back to file for joint custody, it will be a much more difficult case to win. Having joint custody where the child spends 6 months with each parent can ONLY work if both parents live within the same school district. It can work while the child is pre-school but once your son starts school, then there has to be a primary custodian.

Also, if the abuse is so bad that you have to run away, the courts will wonder that you left the child in that situation. Before you make any decisions, I would strongly suggest you speak to a Family Law attorney who can advise you on the best way to get away from your husband while protecting your parental rights.