Divorce can be stressful time, especially if there are children involved. During this process, you will always want to look at the best interests of your children to make sure they are able to cope with such a drastic change. In New York State, the courts do the same when determining child custody—every decision is made with the best interests of the children in mind.
Here are some important child custody terms to know, such as visitation, parenting time, and the different types of custody arrangements. Contact Jean M. Mahserjian, Esq. P.C., to learn more.
Legal Custody
Separating or divorcing parents must determine how important decisions will be made for their children. After a separation or divorce, one or both parents will make decisions regarding what school the children will go to or what doctor will treat the children. Legal custody is the right to make legal decisions for your children and can be granted to just one parent (sole) or both (joint).Even when they’re not able to get along, parents will often insist on joint legal custody. The majority of custody cases are negotiated in an agreement. The current trend in negotiated agreements is to accommodate the parents and state that the parties will have joint legal custody.
Physical Custody
Physical custody addresses where the children will live. Parents can share physical custody equally, with each parent having the children 50 percent of the time, or the children can live mostly in one parent’s home. The more common arrangement is to have one “primary physical custodian.”
Visitation and Parenting Time
If one parent will have primary physical custody, both must agree on the scheduled times when the children will see their other parent, i.e., “visitation” or “parenting time.” There is no such thing as a typical access schedule. The frequency, duration and type of access vary from family to family. It can be dictated by unique work schedules, school arrangements or the convenience of both parties. If no access schedule is set and the parties cannot agree, one of the parents can ask a court to set a schedule. The time and cost involved in going back to court should be enough incentive to work thorough these issues and continue to cooperate with the other parent on custody and visitation schedules.
Contact our experienced New York child custody lawyers today. We provide expert legal counsel for life’s most crucial issues.
