How A Family Lawyer Can Help You In A Child Custody Case
If you about to go through a child custody case, you might want to consider hiring a family law lawyer to help you. To understand just how important his or her help will be for you, you will want to check out the following points.
Helps To Establish Legal Custody
There is a difference between legal custody and who gets to have the children in their home as a primary residence and who gets visitation rights. The legal custody refers more to being able to make decisions for the children in regards to their educational, medical, and spiritual needs. When parents equally share legal custody of the children, both parents must consult each other before making any radical decisions for the children. It also ensures that both parents have to remain in the same state with the children. This means that one parent simply cannot pack up everything and move out of state without first getting permission from the judge or the other parent.
Helps To Establish Fair And Equal Time With The Children
If the children will remain with one parent, who will serve as the primary caretaker, there will need to be an order in place that clearly defines the visitation schedule that the non-custodial parent will receive. In many cases, when the children are of school-age, they will only spend every other weekend with the parent that does not live with them. However, there is usually additional visitation on school holidays and over their summer break from school. If you want to make sure that you are getting as much visitation as you can and that it is properly documented with the courts, you will need to retain a family law lawyer.
Helps To Negotiate Child Support Payment Amounts
When the time with the children is not an equal 50/50 split, there is often an order for child support to be paid to the parent who has the children the majority of the time. The amount of the child support order can be determined by the courts or a child support enforcement agency based on the combined income of both parents. However, a lawyer may be able to help negotiate the amount of the child support order so that it is fair to the children while still being fair to the parent who will be paying it. For example, while the cost of child care is considered, it is important to make sure that the paying parent will not go bankrupt over child support, as he or she will then not be able to properly provide for the children while they are in his or her care.
For more information, contact Joanna Cobleigh Esq or a similar legal professional.