What To Know When Your Divorce Includes Child Custody

Single parent homes have actually become incredibly common in America. Today over 23 million children live in a single parent home. Going through a divorce can be hard, and when a child is involved, it can be even more challenging and demanding. If you have a child who is under the age of eighteen, the problem of custody will be a part of your Divorce proceedings. Considering that child custody concerns are made complex, it deserves understanding all the concerns that you can encounter. That’s what we’re going to look at today.

How Do You Reach A Custody Agreement?

If you’re going through a divorce, there a number of ways that you can reach a custody arrangement. It is important to make sure that you seek legal advice before you take any advances here. You need to be sure that you are making the best choice. Once you have done this, you can reach an informal agreement using a conciliator or with the decision of a judge.

Once an agreement has been reached informally, this will result in a binding written legal arrangement. This can have numerous names including a parenting agreement. The arrangement will be revealed to the court where it then ends up being a binding contract. At this moment, the parents need to consent to the terms.

It is possible to reach these kinds of arrangements without any aid from an attorney. But, if you want to ensure that you do get custody of a child, this is not recommended.

If an attorney is involved, this will typically take the kind of a mediation, which happens outside the courtroom. These circumstances are less adversarial with a neutral party managing conflicts. Each parent and lawyer will be supplied with a possibility to make their case, and ideally, the agreement will be shaped through teamwork. There is a give and take to the procedures before the arbitrator, or neutral party prepares a plan that will be finalized through court.

What If An Arrangement Can’t Be Reached Through Mediation?

At this moment, custody should be dealt with in court. A family court will determine the custody strategy in this case, and Michigan courts use a ‘best interest of the child’ standard. Ultimately, this simply suggests that the child’s needs are put first, however, the elements that are considered can differ from court to court.

A few of the aspects that can be considered include:

Living situation of individuals parents

Relationship with children

Desire of parent to support their partner

Abuse or neglect

Some courts will also consider the child’s choice. This typically means that an older child will be permitted to voice their opinion on who they wish to stay with in court. Other courts will take a look at whether or not the parent can supply a steady lifestyle for the child in addition to the age of the child in question. Some judges have leaned on the concept that younger children need to be with their mother.

What Are The Types Of Custody Arrangements?

There are a few kinds of custody arrangements that you can argue for or that a judge can pick:

Physical custody– This means that a child is enabled to live with you after a divorce. This can be a shared agreement with both parents gaining this right. Generally, this is normally the preferred method by the court. It is necessary to be mindful that this does not need to be an equal split and one parent can be granted custody for the majority of the time. If parents are not able to agree on a schedule, the judge will set one up.

Sole physical custody just indicates that a child will live fulltime with one parent. While this does provide stability for the child, it can be extremely tough for children to lose the other parent from their life.

Visitation Rights– In a custody arrangement, there will be a visitation schedule that both parents are lawfully required to follow. This indicates that parents can not take their child away from their partner without their permission. In certain cases however, visitation rights can be restricted for one parent. This is typically the case if there is the danger of harm or a concern with abuse. Visitation rights can be challenging to comprehend, particularly when it concerns the rights of extended member of the family. If you remain in any doubt about your rights after a custody arrangement, make certain you talk to your lawyer.

Legal Custody– Do understand that physical custody does not provide legal rights to make decisions about your child’s upbringing. For this, legal custody must be offered to an individual parent otherwise it will be shared. This consists of decisions on education, spiritual guideline, and healthcare. Typically, shared legal custody is the basic result. Nevertheless, there are cases where one parent will be provided total rights here.

Are There Emotional Issues?

There will constantly be psychological problems to contend with when a child is part of divorce proceedings. It is necessary that they do not feel like a tool in a legal fight which they are not used by one parent against the other. There are a few ways you can make your divorce easier for your child. Make certain that you are constantly considerate of one another through the proceeding. Children ought to not see you shout, verbally attack each other or threaten violence.

Children are mentally dependent on the idea of their parent’s relationship, particularly when they are younger. You should make sure that they understand the separation has not been caused by them and that you both love them despite the divorce. Make certain that they are involved in the divorce proceedings as little as possible. Do not attempt and encourage them to pick a side as this can cause severe stress and anxiety for the child. It’s important to choose the best lawyer who can direct you through all these issues and make sure that your child is secured from the negative problems of a divorce.

We hope this assists you understand the aspects of child custody during a divorce case which it allows you to avoid some of the typical concerns.

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