Thursday, August 4, 2011

Some Things You Should Keep in Mind About Child Custody

By Charles Philson


Getting a divorce is a devastating event, but much more so if a child is involved. The issue of child custody is extremely important, as it will affect the child for the rest of his or her life.

Parents who want custody of the child would need to present their case in order to convince concerned individuals that they are the best choice to be in charge of the child's welfare. To start off, get in touch with a family lawyer and say that you want to discuss child custody. Before asking you to fill in a form, they will ask you about different considerations. That being said, following are some of the questions the lawyer would most likely ask.

Why file for custody? The response to this may be different considering the parent who wants custody. It could be anything from the age of the child, problems with the spouse or having the environment for better child rearing. The point is that the answer to this question should be clear and concise. The most beneficial approach is where you avoid a messy fight for custody and agree on terms for child support, by obtaining parental consensus ahead of time.

What will the arrangements be and how will custody be held? There are sole physical custody and joint physical custody, which parents can choose from. Parents often attempt to work out details for joint physical custody which would determine how much time the child would be spending with each parent. The schedule should be clear-cut and approved by both parties with the presence of the lawyer.

Who will get legal custody? Naturally physical custody, since it involves actually taking care of the child, is a whole different ball game than legal custody. These can include field trips, problems at school, or holiday excursions. The idea is that parents have to look at how to approach decisions with the child's interest as the first thought. Again, this should be something clear-cut so that parents wouldn?t encounter confusions and problems along the way.

About the child support issue? Children need many different types of support to ensure their well being and so this is a vital issue in any separation where children are involved. Parents must think about financial issues and discuss it with an attorney. The attorney will provide a formula used to decide the child support amount as well as explain the reasoning behind it.

Note that after being legally separated, the needs of the child are still present and must therefore be met. When you are working out child support issues you need to have the welfare of your kids as your top priority. When these are all considered, talk it out with the lawyer and if possible, the partner should also be there for a calm and civilized conversation.




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