How a Divorce Lawyer Can Help With Child Custody Disputes
When going through a divorce, the children’s best interests should be protected at all costs. After all, they’re the most precious thing to you. There’s usually a lot of doubt during this time – child custody disputes can be emotionally and legally complex. You have to decide which custody arrangement will be best for kids or what you have to do to ensure that your relationship with your child is protected. How do you ensure your parental rights are protected not only now but also in the future? Most custody decisions are based on the kids’ best interests, but you’ll need an experienced NJ divorce lawyer to help you understand the ropes.
Here are ways in which a divorce lawyer can help you with child custody disputes:
Help you understand child custody
Parenting time and child support occupy a large aspect of a divorce when it comes to children. After the divorce, a final statement will point out the primary caretaker of the child and how much time the other parent will have parenting time. This can sometimes be determined by the parents themselves through a parenting agreement. In cases where this is not possible a judge is involved to make the decision. A divorce lawyer is supposed to ensure that you are well versed on the different types of child custody while also ensuring that the decisions best suit the child. The types include joint custody legal custody and physical custody, sole custody, parenting time supervised and unsupervised, parental relocation and fathers’ rights. Also ask about can one parent stop another from seeing their child?
Help decide which Parent gets primary custody
In most child custody disputes, one parent is given the role of being the PPR that is the parent of primary residence who becomes the parent the child lives with primarily. The other parent becomes the PAR that is the parent of alternate residence who is assigned a given amount of parenting time with the child. Both parents, therefore, gain joint custody which means they have an equal opinion in making decisions for the child such as religion, education, and healthcare. The work of a lawyer will be to help you understand the factors that any court will consider when making the custody decision which includes the parent’s lifestyle and how the child could be affected. Other factors include the child’s gender, age, mental and physical health condition as well as that of the parent.
Determine your child custody needs
Child custody cases are different. In some cases, parents mutually agree on what best interests their child while some don’t and this is where the divorce lawyer comes in. the lawyers are quite informed on the various ways child custody cases may go and they work to make sure that the main priority remains to be the emotional needs of the children. There are different techniques that can be used here including mediation, custody evaluations as well as four-way conferences which both parents and attorneys need to be present.
Finding a good divorce lawyer will help you solve child custody disputes with ease.