Child Custody Laws - Understand And Win

To win your child custody case you need to understand child custody laws.

Custody is the right to raise your children. You share custody of your children when you stay together, but when you separate or divorce, you divide up custody.

Depending on the laws in your state, custody may be divided between legal custody, which is the right to make major decisions about the children, and physical custody, which is the right to raise the children day-to-day.

Many states allow each custody component to be divided between sole and joint. Sole gives one parent full and exclusive rights, while joint shares those rights between parents.

If one parent is awarded sole custody, the other parent is almost always allowed visitation. Visitation is when the noncustodial parent may see the children.

Visitation can take many forms, including reasonable visitation, which does not specify exact days and times, and scheduled visitation, which is more precise.
The court loses authority to make custody orders when the children reach the age of majority or become emancipated.

Child Custody and Visitation

When you first separate, you must decide how to share your children. If you agree, you can begin living the new arrangement. But if you do not agree, a judge will decide for you. And when the judge decides, he will be guided by the laws of child custody and visitation.

Types of Custody

Responsibilities for children, when you are learning child custody laws, are usually divided into two categories: legal and physical. Legal custody is the right to make major decisions about your child. Physical custody is the right to have your child live with you.

In addition, legal and physical custody are each divided into two more categories: sole and joint. Sole assigns the right to one parent exclusively, while joint shares the right between the parents.

Legal Custody

Legal custody is the right to make major decisions about the child. The parent granted legal custody is the guardian of the child and will make the important decisions about the child's health, education, and welfare

Rights of legal custody can include making decisions about:

• What schools the children will attend.

• What medical and dental care they will receive.

• What religion they will be raised in.

The right to makes these decisions can be assigned to one p. i rent exclusively, or shared between the parents.

If you want custody of your children, do not move out of the family home. If you leave, you abandon the children to the other parent, who may be granted temporary custody.

Sole Legal Custody

Sole legal custody entitles one parent-and one parent alone-the right to make all major decisions in a child's life. That parent becomes the sole legal guardian, with the exclusive right to decide what is best for the child.

The advantage of sole legal custody is that it may reduce parental conflict by clearly establishing who has authority to make decisions. The disadvantage is that by making one parent solely responsible for the child, the other parent is reduced to being a visitor, prevented from having a meaningful say in the child's life.

Sole legal custody may be appropriate when one parent prefers to relinquish his or her involvement with the children, or when a parent is too unstable to make basic decisions for the children.

Joint Legal Custody

Joint legal custody shares the authority to make child-raising decisions between the two parents.

Under joint legal custody, the parents must share information and must consult and agree on issues regarding the children's health, education, and welfare. The scope of issues may be stated in the custody order, or may be left undetermined.

These are the main points dealing with child custody laws.

Winning custody of your children shouldn't be as difficult as it is. There are easy to follow and simple to learn programs available to you that will help you gain the upper hand and win your custody case. Don't simply listen to the advice of your lawyer because it may not be enough. Take the extra steps, learn the right strategies, and you'll gain the knowledge to win the case and take custody of your children. Learn about these incredible resources here: http://www.child-custody-strategies.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brent_Delaurentis

Child Custody Help

Child Custody, Raising Children In America

According to Fatherhood.HHS.Gov, 78% of fathers, and 83% of mothers, claim watching their children grow up is one of life’s greatest joys.
Sadly, many children end up in the middle of child custody battles, resulting in the loss of contact with a parent.

Most children with a parent who lives apart from them have at least some contact with that parent: 60% maintained some contact with a nonresident father and 78% had contact with a nonresident mother in 1997. These children were in contact an average of 69 days with their fathers and 86 days with their mothers over the course of a year.

The U.S. Census Bureau also weighs in on child custody numbers. According to statistics released in 2002, there were 13.4 million custodial parents maintaining custody of 21.5 million children under the age of 21.

Mothers comprised 84% of the custodial parents, with fathers rounding out the remaining 16%.

Clearly, child custody issues are a big deal, and impact a lot of children and parents.

If you are in the middle of a child custody battle, you can find help.

In my research of various programs that I use in counseling clients I have found that CustodyLibrary.org offers expert publications to help with every child custody problem!
They have an extensive library of publications that cover the laws of virtually every state.

Don’t suffer in silence. Get help with child custody law.

It’s too complicated, and too important to handle alone.


Child Custody

How to Increase Your Chance of Getting Custody of Your Child

Child Custody

There are unavoidable circumstances in a marriage and sometimes it leads to separation and divorce.

If you have children, the divorce will be followed by child custody issues and of course as a parent you want to get a favorable arrangement. There are things you can do to increase your chance of getting custody of your child.

There are different scenarios and arrangements; there are cases that both parents are granted joint custody of the child and in some cases a parent may insist on sole custody of the child. Here are some tips to increase your chance of getting custody of your child.

Get a very good lawyer.

It is best to settle child custody through negotiation but in case you have to file a case in court, it is important to get the best lawyer to properly represent you. Get someone who has the experience in representing child custody case. Listen to your lawyer because he or she knows how to deal with your situation. Tell all that facts for your lawyer to help you in getting custody of your child. Work out with your lawyer on how to feel comfortable and get familiar with the procedures and questioning regarding your case.

Be civil with your spouse.

It is important for your child to see that you still respect the other parent despite of the divorce and the child custody case.

It will not increase your chance of getting custody of your child if you speak badly about the other parent in front of your child. If you want to prove you are a better parent, words are not enough, you need to document everything as a proof. Document everything about your relationship with your child and the parenting issues of the other parent.

Be a good parent to your child.

A failed marriage doesn't mean you have to fail as a parent.

When getting custody of your child, keep in mind the best interests of your child and try to be the best parent your child could have. It is important to keep a good relationship with your child and the welfare your kid should be your priority.
Failed marriage is painful but it doesn't mean you have to be separated with your child too. As a good parent, you want the best for your child and there are things you can do to increase your chance of getting custody of your child.

My thanks to Gerry Restrivera for this article.

Do you want to discover a unique program developed by respected child custody experts that will give you the best chance of winning a favorable child custody arrangement? Visit Child Custody: Psychologists Strategies at Parenting GuideTo know more about home and family visit All About Home and FamilyGerry Restrivera writes informative articles on various subjects including How to Increase Your Chance of Getting Custody of Your Child. You are allowed to publish this article in its entirety provided that author's name, bio and website links must remain intact and included with every reproduction.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gerry_Restrivera


Child Custody

Child Custody

Child Custody, The Painful Truth

Child custody is not an easy choice.

Whether attorneys and judges decide on who will get the child custody or if parents can come to an agreement on their own, someone is going to lose. There are specific laws with very stringent guidelines about child custody.

The bottom line is not who should have rights to child custody, but who is going to provide the best environment and upbringing for the child. Therefore, child custody cases can become difficult, confusing, and even frustrating.

For every child custody case, there needs to be a qualified child custody attorney behind it.

What are you to do then when faced with child custody issues?

If you are in this situation, you will need to find qualified child custody attorneys to help you. And, you will also want to find a good amount of research about what child custody processes are like in your area. There, you will find quite a bit of information regarding child custody and possibly find qualified child custody attorneys in your area.

Child custody battles are not easy.

They are complex and often leave someone hurt. Each state has its own set of rules governing child custody laws.

Many times, children are placed with biological parents first. But, the end result will be a judge trying to decide what the best place for that child is. In child custody battles, parents will have to decide why they believe the child should be with them. Things like money, housing situations, and how they react with the child.

Child custody cases happen every day.

If you are one of the people who are affected by a child custody case, you will want to do some research. Websites like www.thesmartattorneys.com offer information to help point you in the right direction. You should prepare yourself first, though, with qualified attorneys who can help you and the child find the best solution. In the end, every child custody case is about the child’s well being.

My thanks to S.A. Baker for contributing this article.

S A Baker is staff writer at http://www.thesmartattorneys.comArticle Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=S._A._Baker


Child Custody