A custody battle can be heart-wrenching for all involved. That’s why it’s best to come to an amicable agreement concerning the children. Courts are supposed to decide custody issues based on the “best interests of the children.” However, Judges tend to weigh many factors. They don’t like to force change on children. If the parents are separated, and the child has been living in one home, the Judge would likely leave them there. If the children are older, a Judge will likely take into consideration where the children want to live. Courts want parents to put their children first, and the Judge often looks at what parent is more likely to be cooperative. Judges consider other facts like whether either parent has a history of domestic violence.
However, the Judge will not consider a parent’s moral character, unless it has an impact on the children. Child Custody Attorneys Sierra Vista can help you during this difficult time. It’s hard to imagine spending time away from the kids, but sometimes this happens in a divorce.
Physical custody is all about where the children will live. Usually, the children live with one parent during the week, and the other parent has weekend visitation. Judges often give physical custody to the parent who they think will provide the best care. Legal custody is about making major decisions for the children. Examples are whether or not a child goes to public or private school, whether the child needs medical care or whether the child learns to drive. Judges usually order joint legal custody when the parents can work together. Parents can also have joint physical custody. This means that the parent who would normally have visitation, gets to spend additional time with the children. Child Custody Attorneys Sierra Vista will draft a custody order in your case. The Visitation schedule is included in the custody order. The visitation schedule includes the major holidays. Neither parent may get every thing they want from a custody order. But, it’s best to follow the order and leave disagreements behind. Further tension between the parents will only hurt the children, needlessly.
The Law Offices of Joseph Mendoza is a full service law firm aggressively representing clients in Sierra Vista in their child custody and other family law matters.
