The Court Determines 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 establishes both the custody and
parenting time arrangement for the children. Your child custody
order is also confidential.
When an unmarried mother has a child, the mother has legal
custody of that child until a court says otherwise. During
divorce, marriage, or annulment proceedings, the issue of child
custody often becomes a matter for the court to determine. The
Court must consider the following factors in every child custody
decision under the law regarding the best interest of the child.
The court retains the power to alter 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
determine whether the child custody and support determination
should be modified. The fact that one parent has been the
child's primary caretaker is often considered but is not enough
to guarantee a custody award. It is not that unusual for middle
class parents to spend $60,000 on a divorce and child custody
fight. Traditionally, divorce in the United States results in
one parent being awarded primary custody and decision making for
a child.
Rights
Each parent shares the rights and responsibility for the care,
custody, companionship, and support of their children. Some
states, such as Arizona, have fathers rights groups specifically
dedicated to helping fathers obtain custody of their children
(arizonafathersrights.com for example).
Definitions
Custody means that a parent has legal custodial rights and
responsibilities toward the child.
Joint child custody means that both parents have the legal
custodial rights and responsibilities toward a child. Joint
custody allows both parents to have a say in the child's
upbringing. There is no evidence to support that a presumption
of joint custody is in the best 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 lives 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.
Evaluation
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.
Attorney
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 litems 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. When women fear losing custody of children the stress
can be overwhelming. However, in many cases, women are favored
as holding custody of their children.
For more information about child custody, visit
http://www.childcustodyinfohelp.com