Making The Best Use Of Child Custody Rights

If you are the sole bread winner in your family or if both partners are earning an income, you probably worry about the possibility of surrendering quality time as an inevitable consequence of divorce.

On the other hand, if you are a stay-at-home parent, you may make the case in court that you should be awarded the parenting time because you have spent more time caring for the children.

But keep in mind that even if you are the higher income parent, you need not give up your rights to spend meaningful time with your children.

Of course you must be willing to make adjustments and prove to the court that you will be as involved with your children as you would like to be.

Like with most family law issues it is the parents who decide the custody case.

According to one of the top divorce and custody lawyers, “For parents, working together is the best bet to achieve a fair and appropriate custody arrangement”.

“If they do not do it successfully, the court will decide for them”.

In most states, the judge examines and applies specific factors to every custody decision.

The underlying principle or the governing factor is in the “best interests of the child”.

This may vary from case to case. Yet some of the factors considered are:

·        The child’s age, sex, and mental and physical condition

·        The emotional connect between the parent and the child

·        The parent’s lifestyle

·        What the impact on the child will be if status quo is changed

·        The child’s preference if he or she is mature enough to decide

·      The financial ability of the parent to provide the child with food, shelter, and schooling

“Parents must put their children first”, says one of the top divorce lawyers in Maryland. “When negotiating, the focus must be on what is best for the children rather than on winning”.

When a working parent seeks custody, the following decisions need to be taken:

·     Is there is enough time in the morning to get the children ready for school, pack their lunch, and make sure they have done their homework?

·       Will the parent be able to get home early enough to oversee dinner?

·     If the children get sick, can the parent be contacted over phone and can he or she leave the work and come home and take them to a doctor if necessary?

“A parent seeking custody must not ask for more time than they can accommodate”, says one of the divorce and custody lawyers in MD.

“In their enthusiasm, parents must not go overboard by committing what they cannot do. Parents must set themselves for success by committing only what is possible”.

You never know what the perspective of the judge can be.

The custody law can be evolving.