If you are going through divorce with children in New York State, you should be aware of the court’s considerations for child custody. Here is what you should know.
Considerations for Child Custody | 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.
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Considerations for Child 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.”
Considerations for Child Custody | 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.
