Today’s Articles January 3, 2012
- Methods in which the Court system regulates Child Custody
A child custody proceeding is any case involving child protection, adoption, guardianship, termination of parental rights or voluntary placement of your child. The support order will be based on the child’s needs, obligor’s ability to pay, custody arrangements and the child support guidelines.
The Criminal Code makes it an offence to abduct a child to spite a custody order. A custody order sets both the custody and parenting time arrangement for the children. Your child custody order is also confidential.
When an unwed mother has a child, the mother has legal custody of that child until a court announces otherwise.During divorce, marriage, or annulment proceedings, the issue of child custody often becomes a matter for the court to clarify. The Court must contemplate the following factors in every child custody decision under the law regarding the best interest of the child. The court holds the power to make changes to the custody arrangements until the child turns 18 or is emancipated.
You may contest custody, child support, and alimony and property division by appearing in court and filing appropriate legal papers. At the hearing, the court shall hear evidence to ascertain whether the child custody and support determination should be changed. The fact that one parent has been the child’s primary caretaker is often considered but is not sufficient to guarantee a custody award.
It is not that unusual for average income parents to spend $60,000 on a divorce and child custody battle. Traditionally, divorce in North America results in one parent being awarded primary custody and decision making for a child.
Each parent shares the rights and responsibility for the care, custody, companionship, and support of their kids. Some states, for example Arizona, have fathers rights groups solely dedicated to helping fathers obtain custody of their children (arizonafathersrights.com for example).
Custody means that a parent has court custodial rights and responsibilities toward the child. Joint child custody means that both parents have the lawful custodial rights and responsibilities toward a child. Joint custody grants both parents to have a say in the child’s upbringing.
There is no evidence to assistance that a presumption of joint custody is in the greatest interests of children.
A study found that only when parents were still actively fighting did joint custody exacerbate children’s feelings of being torn between parents. However, when both parents favor joint custody, it can be a good solution for the children. Some parents have chosen a joint-custody arrangement in which the child spends an approximately equal amount of time with both parents. Some states award joint custody in which the judge simply divides the child’s time between the parents.
Joint custody does not mean simply alternating where the child abodes from time to time. In fact, there may be legal joint custody, but the child may live with only one parent. Legal child custody includes the right to make decisions about the child’s education, religion, health care, and other important concerns. A child may be placed in foster care while a custody case is pending. Legal custody means the right to determine the child’s upbringing, including education, health care, and religious training.
Physical custody and residence means the routine daily care and control and where the child lives. Physical child custody is awarded to one parent with whom the child will live most of the time. In most cases, both parents continue to share legal child custody but one parent gains physical child custody. There is also a presumption that it is in the child’s best interest to be in the custody of a parent over a non-parent.
Visitation rights allow the non-custodial parent (the person without child custody) time to spend with their child. A common arrangement is that one parent gets custody of the child and the other parent is given visitation rights.
A child custody evaluation is a report written by a neutral professional about you, the other parent, and your children. It is usually not necessary that formal psychological tests be administered to each parent in the context of a child-custody evaluation. The primary purpose and focus of the custody and/or visitation evaluation is to determine what is in the best interests of the child.
Comprehensive child custody evaluations generally require an evaluation of all parents/guardians and children, as well as observations of interactions between them. The children are also evaluated in a custody/visitation evaluation.
Because of the complexity of child custody matters and the importance of the outcome, it may be advisable to contact an attorney. The attorney should know several child custody evaluators or guardian ad items that they have worked with successfully. If you proceed with a child custody action without an attorney, you are acting as your own attorney.
In a child custody dispute, there are rarely winners, frequently everyone is a loser, and the biggest losers are often the children.
For more facts on Child Custody Law, visit us at http://www.custodyrights.org/child-custody-laws.php
- Shared Custody Arrangements
The family law court always favors custody results that are in the “best interests of the child” and as such can dictate the rights and responsibilities of parents where shared custody (technically referred to as ‘joint conservatorship’) has been granted.
Shared Custody is a complex balance to achieve, but if you want to avoid interference from the courts and make your custody arrangement work for the best interests of your youngster, plenty of planning will be necessary to determine how to make the changeover between the two homes as smooth as is feasible.
An example of a good practice in a joint conservatorship is to set up a standardized system of house rules in both places of residence. Often parents are tempted to immediately change rules that were a source of exasperation during the marriage or that remind them of their estranged partner. Such inbalances though can be disruptive for the child, and even push them to accommodate their behaviour between homes.
As a result, children can become very astute at pleasing or even manipulating states of affairs between the homes for their own advantage in situations where parents are still emotionally susceptible. This is not because children are basically wicked but is simply a survival strategy. A child wants consistency of rules and schedules between homes, for both peace-of-mind and for their healthy emotional and physical development.
Developing this consistency may require recurring phone calls and meetings between parents to agree on the needs of the child and the working out of a plan together, so that there are clear expectations and little room for emotional manipulation. Make sure, as far as is possible, that both homes are in agreement on rules regarding bedtimes, tv viewing, internet use and going out with friends.
As your child grows, these rules will, of course, need to be revisited together and changes implemented co-operatively. In truth, parents who enlist a joint custody arrangement because they are genuinely looking to the best interests of the child need to put in the time necessary to make it work. They also need to be ready to change the agreement should the needs of the child change.
When a child makes a decision that he or she would now like to spend added time in the home of one particular parent, there is often an impossible guilt that they feel over choosing one parent above the other. Parents need to be proactive in freeing their child from this guilt by making it explicit that the arrangements have been set up to serve their best interests and not your own, and that you are therefore always open to modify them.
Research still suggests that most children are more settled in one household. Parents often see joint custody as an arrangement that satisfies their ‘rights’, but the risk is that the child’s needs will be forgotten in the process. Shared Custody can work, and it can work wonderfully, but, as in any custody arrangment, a willingness to be adaptable and to put the child first are the fundamental keys to success.
For more information on Shared custody – working together:
http://www.texaschild-custody.com/texas-family-law-and-shared-custody.php