Child Custody

A child custody attorney’s approach to the case

child custody lawyer near me

Child custody is one of the most emotional issue of a divorce. One of the task of a child custody attorney is to encourage their clients to put their children’s best interest and well-being first because divorce could have lifelong influence on the children.

Frequently the child custody dispute is very highly conflicted because the parent’s point of view regarding their children best interest is different.

Your child custody attorney should provide you information regarding different effective ways to reduce conflict and cost in a child custody case. one of them is participating in family centered case resolution. Under Family Code 2450 (a), all issues would be handled faster,  informally,  without oral testimony or written declarations.

A good child custody attorney would also offer mediation. Some court-connected mediation services not including  mandatory mediation in  custody cases would offer one or two sessions. However, the parents may choose to hire a private mediator who will conduct as many sessions as are necessary to develop a good detailed parenting plan. In such cases, each parent’s child custody attorney assists by meeting with the client before and after each session. The child custody attorney will also converts mediated parenting plans into stipulations, enforceable court orders.

ESTABLISHMENT CHILD CUSTODY

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There are ten situations could arise child custody attorney involvement:

  1. Dissolution, Legal Separation, Nullity of Marriage, Dissolution, Legal Separation, or Nullity of Domestic Partnership
  2. Domestic Violence Actions Between Parents
  3. Parentage Actions
  4. Actions Involving Grandparents
  5. Independent Actions to Establish Child Custody and Visitation Orders
  6. Actions Involving Stepparents
  7. Guardianships
  8. Actions to Terminate Parental Rights
  9. Actions Involving Siblings
  10. Juvenile Dependency Proceedings

If there is a concern of whether the child in question is “of the marriage,” your child custody attorney would use   CA Family Code 7540  to help you.

Under CA Family Code 7601 (b) father and mother can bring actions to determine their custodial rights to a child if there is a parent and child relationship as defined in this Family Code. Under CA Family Code 7602, your child custody attorney can petition to establish a parental relationship regardless whether parties having had a legal relationship to one another.

It would be beneficial for you and your children to come to the agreement through mediation. Our child custody attorney is also a certified mediator  and can lead you to recognize your child’s best interest without compromising your parent’s rights.  However, if you cannot reach an agreement, the case will come up before the judge.

There are a number of factors the judge will consider in making decision.child custody law child custody attorney Child Custody 146598986 0 final 300x300

Child Custody Law in California

A child custody attorney will protect your rights regarding legal and physical custody.

Legal custody is the authority of the parent to make important decisions about the children’s education, medical care, child care, religion and so on.

Physical custody means who children live with, how many days, nights, weekends and holidays the child spends with each parent. Physical custody directly affects child support 

If parents have joint legal custody, it does not mean they will have joint physical custody. However, if parents are awarded joint physical custody, most likely they will have joint legal custody.

Child Custody Laws arrange the combination physical and legal custody in the following ways:

“Sole physical custody” is an arrangement in which children live most of the time with one parent. This parent is custodial parent. Another parent is non-custodial. Non-custodial parent might be awarded sleepover nights and some weekends.

“Joint Physical Custody” is an arrangement in which children live part of the time with one parent and remaining time with another. The parent might share a certain part of the week or certain parts of the month or parts of the year. In joint physical custody parents spend approximately equal amounts of time with their children. Sometime it called “ shared custody”

Similar to the sole legal custody, there is “sole legal custody” which means that only one parent can make primarily life affecting decisions. In joint legal custody both parents have an equal authority to make important decisions in children’s lives.

CHANGE IN PARENTAL RIGHTS AND DUTIES WITH SPLIT OR LIMITED CHILD CUSTODY

Your child custody attorney might explain you another possible custody forms, such as “split custody” and “limited custody”.  “Split custody “ is  to an arrangement in which one parent has custody of one or more children and the other parent has custody of another child or children. “Limited custody” is a parenting plan in which one parent’s time with the child or children is limited or supervised. Both terms do not affect the rights and responsibilities with respect to decision-making authority. A parent’s rights and duties to his or her child are limited only by the actual stated schedule agreed to or ordered by the court and the specific order regarding decision-making authority. An order limiting custody or awarding split custody does not automatically mean that the parent with the lower timeshare has lost any legal parental authority.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR FIRST INTERVIEW WITH CHILD CUSTODY ATTORNEY MORE EFFECTIVE

The first meeting with your child custody attorney can be made more productive if you take the time to inspect records and write down details of the recent timeshare. Even if you and your spouse are not yet separated, it can be helpful to learn the actual history of caretaking within the marriage . You should  bring a list of topics you want to discuss with your child custody attorney at your initial consultation because it  can be disturbing and might forget some of the most pressing questions. You should be ready to describe specifically an optimal timeshare and other details of the desired outcome.

Child custody is one of the most emotional issue of a divorce. The task of a child custody attorney is to encourage their clients to put their children’s best interest and well-being first because divorce could have lifelong influence on the children.

Very frequently the child custody dispute is very highly conflicted because the parent’s point of view regarding their children best interest is different.

There are ten situations could arise child custody attorney involvement:

  1. Dissolution, Legal Separation, Nullity of Marriage, Dissolution, Legal Separation, or Nullity of Domestic Partnership
  2. Domestic Violence Actions Between Parents
  3. Parentage Actions
  4. Actions Involving Grandparents
  5. Independent Actions to Establish Child Custody and Visitation Orders
  6. Actions Involving Stepparents
  7. Guardianships
  8. Actions to Terminate Parental Rights
  9. Actions Involving Siblings
  10. Juvenile Dependency Proceedings

If there is a concern of whether the child in question is “of the marriage,” your child custody attorney would use   CA Family Code 7540  to help you.

Under CA Family Code 7601 (b) father and mother can bring actions to determine their custodial rights to a child if there is a parent and child relationship as defined in this Family Code. Under CA Family Code 7602, your child custody attorney can petition to establish a parental relationship regardless whether parties having had a legal relationship to one another.

It would be beneficial for you and your children to come to the agreement through mediation. Our child custody attorney is also a certified mediator  and can lead you to recognize your child’s best interest without compromising your parent’s rights.  However, if you cannot reach an agreement, the case will come up before the judge.

There are a number of factors the judge will consider in making decision.

Child Custody Attorney protecting your right under child custody Law in California

A child custody attorney will protect your rights in legal and physical custody.

Legal custody is the authority of the parent to make important decisions about the children’s education, medical care, child care, religion and so on.

Physical custody means who children live with, how many days, nights, weekends and holidays the child spends with each parent. Physical custody directly affects child support 

If parents have joint legal custody, it does not mean they will have joint physical custody. However, if parents are awarded joint physical custody, most likely they will have joint legal custody.

Child Custody Laws arrange the combination physical and legal custody in the following ways:

“Sole physical custody” is an arrangement in which children live most of the time with one parent. This parent is custodial parent. Another parent is non-custodial. Non-custodial parent might be awarded sleepover nights and some weekends.

“Joint Physical Custody” is an arrangement in which children live part of the time with one parent and remaining time with another. The parent might share a certain part of the week or certain parts of the month or parts of the year. In joint physical custody parents spend approximately equal amounts of time with their children. Sometime it called “ shared custody”

Similar to the sole legal custody, there is “sole legal custody” which means that only one parent can make primarily life affecting decisions. In joint legal custody both parents have an equal authority to make important decisions in children’s lives.

CHANGE IN PARENTAL RIGHTS AND DUTIES WITH SPLIT (LIMITED) CHILD CUSTODY

Your child custody attorney might explain you another possible custody forms, such as “split custody” and “limited custody”.  “Split custody “ is  to an arrangement in which one parent has custody of one or more children and the other parent has custody of another child or children. “Limited custody” is a parenting plan in which one parent’s time with the child or children is limited or supervised. Both terms do not affect the rights and responsibilities with respect to decision-making authority. A parent’s rights and duties to his or her child are limited only by the actual stated schedule agreed to or ordered by the court and the specific order regarding decision-making authority. An order limiting custody or awarding split custody does not automatically mean that the parent with the lower timeshare has lost any legal parental authority.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR FIRST INTERVIEW WITH CHILD CUSTODY ATTORNEY MORE EFFECTIVE

The first meeting with your child custody attorney can be made more productive if you take the time to inspect records and write down details of the recent timeshare. Even if you and your spouse are not yet separated, it can be helpful to learn the actual history of caretaking within the marriage . You should  bring a list of topics you want to discuss with your child custody attorney at your initial consultation because it  can be disturbing and might forget some of the most pressing questions. You should be ready to describe specifically an optimal timeshare and other details of the desired outcome.

Many prospective child custody clients are experiencing their first contact with the child custody law and  legal system in general. They have little knowledge  about courts  and may believe that the chance of obtaining good representation depend on minimizing adverse information or concealing some facts. The child custody attorney should take pains early in the proceeding to be aware how to navigate the case properly. The good child custody attorney should make it clear that adverse information eventually comes up in the time when you want it least and the effect of the concealment can be  more disastrous than the news itself.

If your child custody attorney believes that going through a custody dispute entails so much stress that you need supportive therapy and it might be beneficial to get psychotherapy from a trained professional. Sometimes a client who resists the referral from his child custody attorney  may be willing to meet with a therapist for what the attorney describes as “parenting advice.”

Your child custody attorney might recommend you the following  resources for developing your child visitation schedule:

Orange County Superior Court recommended Parenting Plan Guideline