Joint Child Custody Agreements

By Dianna Nelsun

What is joint child custody? How does it differ from other custody arrangements? Will it work for your situation?

These are just some of the questions parents have about joint custody. Many people have heard the term, but they are unfamiliar with the particulars. Here is some information about joint child custody so you can decide if it is right for your situation.

When people say joint custody they could be talking about joint legal custody or joint physical custody. In legal joint custody, the parents both have the legal authority to make decisions for their child. This includes decisions about where the child will go to school, what religion the child will participate in, the medical care the child gets, and other issues. Parents may choose to have joint legal custody without joint physical custody.

Physical joint custody means that the parents work together to provide physically for the children. This means that both parents spend time with the child and also have a home for the children to live in. The parents usually split the time with the children so each parent has fifty percent of the time with them.

Parents have to communicate with each other regularly in joint custody. There needs to be clear communication about picking up and dropping off the children--because there is a lot of switching back and forth. Parents also need to be very organized because it can be easy to get a joint custody schedule confused. Parents also have the duty to keep the other one informed about important events.

Joint custody could be the solution you are looking for if you want your kids to have time with both parents. This is a way for both the mother and father to be involved in raising their kids after a divorce. If you feel this could be in your child's best interest you should look into developing a joint child custody agreement.

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Parenting Plans: Steps for Making One

By Dianna Nelsun

A parenting plan is another term for custody agreement. This is the document that divorced parents create together to outline the conditions of custody and visitation. This is a vital document in any custody case.

If you are involved in a custody case, you need to make your parenting plan. You want to be thorough and include everything that needs to be there. To help you, here are three things to put in your parenting plan.

1. Your schedule of custody and visitation. You need to outline the type of custody you and the child's other parent have, and the basic schedule of custody. You should also create a holiday schedule and incorporate that into your custody calendar. You can also include vacation time for the parents to take the children and other special events.

2. Child support documents and information. You will need to provide certain financial information for child support. This differs from state to state, so find out what your state required. It is also extremely helpful to figure out the exact time-share or overnight percentage. This number is used to calculate child support, but it is difficult to figure out. Most states just guess at the number. You want to make sure that your child support amount is correct, so figure this out exactly.

3. Provisions about parenting. There are always little rules that the parents want each other to follow. Think about the rules you want and include the important ones in your plan. This could be something like being informed when the other parent takes the child out of the country. Or not allowing the other parent to smoke around the child.

If you work hard when making your parenting plan, you'll be happy with the results. The courts are impressed with well thought out plans that contain enough information. Once your parenting plan is finished you'll be able to focus on your parenting.

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Child Visitation and Your Custody Case

By Dianna Nelsun

In custody terms, child visitation refers to the amount of contact that the children have with the parents. It can be used specifically to mean the time the child visits with the non custodial parent, which is the parent that the child doesn't live with. It is also more generally to refer to the overall arrangement of custody and visitation that the parents have set up.

Parents have a lot of flexibility concerning child visitation. They can create any type of arrangement that works for them. The first thing to do when making a custody and visitation schedule is to decide the type of custody that you want for your situation. Parents can have joint custody, which means they will both spend about the same amount of time with the children. You can also have a sole custody agreement, where the children mainly live with one parent and visit the other one.

The type of custody you choose will determine how you set up your visitation. The next thing to do is to set up a little schedule--about a few weeks--where you outline the custody and visitation schedule. This few week schedule then becomes the basis for your custody calendar and you apply it over and over again through the year. This is called the repeating or rotating cycle.

There are a number of ways to set up your repeating cycle. For sole custody, you can set up where the children spent the week with the custodial parent and weekends with the other parent. Or, you can set it up so the children visit the non custodial parent once or twice a week and then every other weekend.

In a joint custody plan, the parents can alternate custody every week, every two weeks, or every month. If you choose a longer period, like the two weeks or month, of custody you can schedule in some visits to the other parent. You can also have the children spend time with one parent for half the week and the other parent for the other half.

Another part of child visitation is deciding where the child will spend holidays. Usually the parents divide the holidays between them--with both parents getting major and minor holidays. You can also include vacation time with each parent in your visitation schedule.

Child visitation is one of the biggest and most important issues in a custody case. Both parents have to put in the time to create a schedule that will work for their situation. Once the visitation is all figured out then things run a lot smoother.

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Win Child Custody: How to Prepare

By Dianna Nelsun

If you want to win child custody, you need to be prepared. This applies even if you are just meeting with your child's other parent or if you need to present a case in court. You need to be prepared so you can get the time you want with your child.

Showing up with the right documents is the best way to prepare. Professional documents containing all of the information about your custody situation will impress the child's other parent and also a judge. Here is an outline of the papers to prepare so you can win your case.

You need to create a custody and visitation schedule. Decide on the custody arrangement that you want and then figure out a repeating cycle that will implement the schedule. For example, suppose you want joint custody with equal time for both parent. You decide that the best way to implement that is to have the child live with one parent during the week and have several visits and the weekends with the other parent.

Figure out your repeating cycle and write it out. Then you can apply it to a calendar. It's useful to have both formats to show your former spouse or the court because it gives a nice visual of the situation and a quick explanation.

Along with the custody schedule, create a holiday schedule. The easiest way to do this is to write out a list of all of the holidays and then assign custody to them. Make sure you give equal amounts of big and small holidays. If you want, you can also put them on the calendar.

There should also be a document that contains the other visitation information. This would be things like vacation times, special events, or other variations from the schedule. Write it all out and then put it in the calendar--it's very impressive to have the information in two formats.

The last document to think about is a list of any provisions or stipulations you'd like the other parent to agree to about raising your child. Perhaps you'd like to have a clause that neither parent says negative things about the other one in the child's presence. You can make a list of whatever is important to you and whatever you'd like the court to order your child's other parent to do.

Taking the time to prepare will ensure that you win your custody case. It will help because the child's other parent or the court will accept your custody agreement and plan. And, you'll be able to get the time you want with your child.

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Child Custody Advice About Legal Counsel

By Dianna Nelsun

As a divorced parent you have a lot on your plate. You are in the middle of making crucial decisions about your custody situation plus you have everything else you normally have to deal with. You want to make sure that you are getting the legal information and advice you need to settle your custody case well.

The phrase legal advice often conjures up an image of an attorney presenting a case in court. Many divorced parents don't know if they need to hire legal help or not. They certainly don't want to jeopardize their case by not getting the legal advice they need. To help you decide, here are three ideas to think about when considering if you want to hire an attorney.

1. Do you really need a lawyer? Take a good look at your custody case to decide if you need an attorney. If you and the child's other parent have strong disagreements or if there are have substantial problems in the past then you do want a lawyer to represent you. If you and the child's other parent can make decisions about your child together you may not need to hire an attorney.

Take some time to discuss your case with a lawyer. You can usually schedule an initial appointment to talk for a low cost. If they seem to think it is a pretty simple case then you may be able to do it alone.

2. Find an attorney who is on your side. Do your homework before hiring a lawyer. Meet with the person and discuss how he/she would represent your case. Make sure they understand your wants and needs in the situation and that they don't just brush you aside. This is one of the most important things going on in your life and they should recognize that.

3. Can you do some work on your own to take down the cost of legal fees? You may want the help of a lawyer but there may be some things you can do to lower the cost. Perhaps you can invest some time into making a custody schedule instead of your lawyer. Or, maybe you can decide on some provisions for your agreement.

You need the top legal advice out there for your custody case. If you are thinking about hiring an attorney make sure you think through all the issues. Then you can have confidence in your decision.

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Child Custody and Visitation Papers

By Dianna Nelsun

Are your child custody papers giving you a headache because they're such a hassle? You're not along. Custody papers can be very stressful and overwhelming because they are so complicated. To make things worse, every state has different papers and forms because the laws are different. This can make it hard to find the information you need.

To ease some of the confusion, here is a list of the common custody papers that divorced parents fill out. Remember that every state is different so you may not find these exact forms with these titles. But, your state will probably have similar types of forms to these if they aren't the exact ones they do have.

To start your custody case, you fill out a paper called a summons or a petition. This paper then has to be served to the other parent. There is also a form about the proof of service of summons that the person who served the papers has to fill out and that you have to include when you file. The parent who is served the papers has to fill out a response and file it with the court.

If no response is filed, the other parent can fill out a request to enter default. This is a request for the court to rule positively about your terms and conditions because the other party didn't contest anything. In some states parents agree that the one parent will file this because they are in agreement over there custody case and they want it to run smoother.

You will need to fill out various forms about your custody and visitation schedule. There will be a form about your basic schedule and one for your holiday schedule. You may also need to fill out a paper about provisions for joint legal and physical custody.

Child support also has a group of papers that need to be filed. Both parents have to provide information about income and expenses and financial statements. If you're trying to get the child support changed then you need to fill out a separate paper. And, you may also need to fill out a paper about having child support withheld from a paycheck.

It's no wonder that most parents hire an attorney to help them sort through the papers. However, even if you don't have a lawyer, you can still get the papers filed correctly. There are many resources available. You should be able to find answers at the courthouse, at a group meeting, the library, or the internet.

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Win Your Child Custody Battle

By Dianna Nelsun

Most divorced parents want to avoid a custody battle if it is possible. These are the parents who are looking out for their child's best interest and try to come up with an agreement based on their child's needs. They try to discuss issues reasonably with the other parent.

Parents can find themselves in the middle of a child custody battle before they know it. Often, the child's other parent will take steps to support a selfish agenda of revenge. These steps can include talking negatively about the other parent or being completely unreasonable about custody time.

Divorced parents need to know what to do in a battle so they can protect their child. Hopefully they can prevent a negative situation from happening, but if they can't prevent it they can at least learn how to deal with it. Here are three ideas to help you win your custody battle.

1. Take action and don't wait for the other parent. Don't wait around while the other parent does things like hire a lawyer and file for child custody. Take initiative and act. Figure out if you're going to need an attorney, know the documents you need to file, keep track of custody and visitation time, etc.

You basically need to begin the whole case with the thought that it could turn into a battle. You want to be levelheaded, of course, but you need to take the steps to cover yourself if things get nasty. Don't assume that your former spouse will be reasonable.

Too many parents don't get a fair custody agreement because they expected the other parent to be reasonable and they were sorely mistaken. Don't let the other parent give you an unpleasant surprise about their sneakiness. Take action quickly.

2. Keep track of appropriate information. You are going to need a lot of documents to show your case in court. As soon as your divorce goes through you need to be keeping track of how much time each parent is spending with the child, all of your financial information regarding the children, and you'll need any statements about custody.

3. Endure to the end. It can be easy to get overwhelmed and depressed in a custody battle. Keep fighting though. Try different strategies for getting time with your kids. Maybe you need to get a different attorney at some point. Remember your kids and that it is worth all of the hassle to get to be with them.

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