Child Custody
Legal custody means having the right and responsibility to care for and make decisions about the minor children. In child custody, there could be sole or joint legal custody by one or both parents. Often, custody is worked up in a divorce or legal separation to establish parental rights. And once the orders have been finalized, they will be implemented to bring the best for the children with schooling, church, mental health care, medical appointments, sports, and travels.
The Process
The final custody orders often involve parenting plans for caring for the children, living quarters for the children, and parenting time. There are four types of parenting time: 1) With a schedule, 2) Reasonable, 3) Supervised, and 4) No visitation. With a schedule, the children and each parent would have set dates and times to meet. Reasonable parenting time entails the parents working out an agreeable meeting schedule to see the children. Supervised parenting times often involve supervision by the other parent, an adult, or a staffer of a social agency. Lastly, no visitation order means no meeting at all for the safety of the children.
In determining the best for the children, judges often look at the health and age of the children, their bonds with each of the parents, their ties to their surroundings (e.g., home, school, community), the care given by each parent, family history of domestic violence, and substance abuse by either parent.
What can be filed?
At Legal Document Services, we file different types of custody documents depending on your situation and case type.
In addition to filing, we will also help you to respond to requests for custody and parenting time. Timely response to these requests is important because the judge can decide without you responding- default judgment.
Source: Child custody and parenting time