You have a lot of different options for child custody plans. We will work with you to make sure you understand your options, so you can figure out the plan that works best for your family. We will also make sure you come up with a comprehensive and fair plan regarding visitation, parenting time, and time-sharing. We help our clients with a variety of child custody options, including:
- Legal Custody
- Physical Custody
- Joint Custody
- Sole Custody
Generally, there are two types of custody: Legal and Physical. Legal Custody involves responsibility for major decisions that effect the children’s lives. Examples include decisions related to the health, education, general welfare, and/or religious upbringing of the children. California and many other states have a preference for joint (shared) Legal Custody of the children, whenever possible.
Determining parenting time should be a joint effort of both parents. Ideally, parents should develop a plan in consultation with each other. A plan should take into consideration the following:
- Flexibility in the event of unforeseen events
- For parenting time and for pick-up and drop-off responsibilities, for doctor’s appointments, after school activities, school, music lessons, sports, etc.
- Time spent with each parent during holidays and school breaks
- Allowances for holidays, birthdays, Father’s Day, and Mother’s Day
- Clearly defined start and end times for holidays and parenting time
Child custody is often the most emotional issue in any divorce. We hear nervous questions from people every day. Will I lose custody? Will I get quality time with my kids? Will I have a say-so in my kids’ education and activities? Will I have to worry about leaving my children alone with my ex-spouse?
The decision of whether to fight for custody should be based on what would be in the child’s best interests. A parent’s selfish needs or desires to hurt the other spouse should not be a factor, nor should a parent’s desires to collect child support. Keep in mind that fighting for custody can often be expensive and may even be harmful to the child emotionally.
As the child matures, the court may seek the child’s input regarding who the child’s residential custodian will be. However, one should be extremely cautious about trying to influence a child’s decision in a custody dispute. The psychological effects of the child being asked to choose between parents may be devastating if not dealt with in an appropriate manner being sensitive to the child’s desire to maintain a healthy relationship with both parents.
Shared Parental Responsibility: Shared parental responsibility is awarded in the majority of cases. The concept is that both parents should be involved with raising their child(ren). This custody arrangement is awarded where parents can work together in making major decisions in the upbringing of their child(ren).
Sole Parental Responsibility: This arrangement is awarded where one of the two parents is unable or unwilling to co-parent.
