Two Types Of Sole Custody In Pennsylvania
There are two types of sole custody: legal and physical. Legal custody refers to the role of the parent in making important decisions for the child, including where to go to school, emergency medical decisions and religion.
Physical custody refers to where the child lives. Sole physical custody implies that the second parent has no visitation rights. It is common for courts to award sole legal custody while still allowing shared physical custody to keep children connected with the second parent. Yet, sometimes even short exposures to that parent can be traumatizing or dangerous. In these cases, you should seek sole physical custody as well.
Because each part of custody is decided separately, you need a Montgomery County, PA family law attorney who will fight to secure complete sole custody, both physical and legal. It is the only way you can be sure that your child’s well-being and development are safe from the bad influences of the unfit parent.
What About False Allegations Of Abuse Or Domestic Violence
Can that be used to request full custody?
This is a difficult topic because courts do take false allegations of abuse seriously, as they must pursuant to California law, but, in our opinion, do not take it seriously enough.
False allegations of abuse is one of the worst things that a parent or spouse can do to the other parent and children.
When dealing with knowingly false allegations of child abuse, California law states in Family Code 3027.5:
“The court may order supervised visitation or limit a parent’s custody or visitation if the court finds substantial evidence that the parent, with the intent to interfere with the other parent’s lawful contact with the child, made a report of child sexual abuse, during a child custody proceeding or at any other time, that he or she knew was false at the time it was made. Any limitation of custody or visitation, including an order for supervised visitation, pursuant to this subdivision, or any statute regarding the making of a false child abuse report, shall be imposed only after the court has determined that the limitation is necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the child, and the court has considered the state’s policy of assuring that children have frequent and continuing contact with both parents as declared in subdivision of Section 3020.”
Those who are victimized by false allegations of abuse must take the case as seriously as those victimized by actual abuse itself.
Hiring A Louisiana Family Law Lawyer
Before you make any decisions regarding the future of your children, it might be best to consult with a legal expert. If you are seeking sole custody, there are certain reasons why a judge may not grant your petition.
Therefore, its important to speak with a family law attorney prior to signing any type of custody agreement so that you understand your rights.
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Reasons To Ask For Sole Custody In Bc
In some situations, obtaining sole custody is to the best interests of your child. These situations include:
- Parents living in different countries and children living with one parent
- One parent becomes addicted to alcohol or drugs
- One parent abandons his/her children
- One parent physically or emotionally abuses children
- One parent alienates children
- One parent becomes incapable of caring for children due to physical or emotional illness or
- One parent dies
Factors For Getting Sole Custody
To win sole custody, you must show the court that awarding you custody is in the best interests of your children due to some factors such as your existing relationship with the child stability of the home and life you provide inability of the father to meet the childs needs the fathers lack of involvement in the childs life fathers failure to financially provide support to the child fathers violent behavior toward you or the child or fathers addiction issues. In total, you must demonstrate that not granting you full custody would somehow be harmful to the children. Even if you have sole custody, a court will usually grant the childs father visitation rights, unless it justifies that to do so would be dangerous to the child.
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Legal Vs Physical Custody
Under California law, there are two types of custody: legal and physical. Legal custody refers to the right and responsibility to make decisions for the child in regards to the childs education, health, and well-being.
With joint legal custody, parents make major decisions for the child together but can have routines in their own homes that they do not have to run by the other parent. When one parent has sole legal custody, they make the decisions about the childs health, education, and well-being with no legal need to inform the other parent.
Physical custody is related to legal custody but is a different legal term. Physical custody refers to the amount of time a parent spends with a child. A parent has full or sole custody when the child spends the majority of his or her time in that parents care.
Having full or sole custody of the child does not mean the other parent has no time with the child. While theres no exact cut-off, if the other parent spends less than 30 percent of the time with the child, you are assumed to have sole custody.
It is very rare for courts to grant 100-percent custody to one parent and keep the other from seeing the child. This only happens when extenuating circumstances keep the child from being safe in the care of the other parent.
Providing Proof And Evidence
To get sole custody of a child, you must prove to the family court that shared custody negatively impacts your child. You must show evidence that the other parent poses a risk to the child, or otherwise isnt acting in the childs best interest. You must explain how the other parent is unfit to perform their parental duties.
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Advantages And Disadvantages Of Joint Custody
Canada’s family judges believe that joint custody arrangements are generally in the best interests of the child. They believe a child needs exposure to both parents.
So, advantages of joint custody include the child staying in regular contact with both parents. The arrangement also allows parents to share responsibility for the child.
Among joint custody’s disadvantages, it involves moving a child back and forth. Maintaining two homes for a child can be cost-prohibitive for some. When one parent is noncooperative, a joint custody arrangement can negatively impact a child.
Despite these disadvantages, family courts have moved away from sole custody. They generally accept the importance of carving out more of a role for each parent in a child’s life. Even when sole physical custody is awarded, courts shy away from sole legal custody.
So, joint custody of one sort or another tends to be the norm in Canada’s family court system. But there are situations that override this. Sometimes, it may be in a child’s best interests for one parent to seek out how to get full custody.
How Can I Get Sole Custody In Massachusetts
If you are contemplating sole custody in the state of Massachusetts, there are many things you need to be aware of before you begin the process. A custody proceeding can be an emotionally-charged event that will affect multiple people including the child. This article will explain to you some of the details of sole custody and all the specifics involved when you file for sole custody in the state of Massachusetts.
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How To Get Sole Custody
Many parents head into their divorce proceedings without a solid understanding of the differences between full custody and sole custody. They aren’t the same thing, so you need to know what you’re asking for when you head into court.
Sole custody includes both legal and physical custody. A parent can have one or the other. Full custody is when both legal and physical custody are awarded to one parent.
Considering Alternatives To Judicial Intervention
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Custody To A Third Party
In some cases, neither biological parent is fit to care for the children. In those situations, Louisiana child custody laws also allow a third party to obtain custody. For example, if the children have been living in a stable and happy home with a relative or individual that has a close connection with the kids, a court may grant that person custody.
Pros And Cons Of Joint Custody
Joint custody has the advantages of assuring the children continuing contact and involvement with both parents. And it alleviates some of the burdens of parenting for each parent.
There are, of course, disadvantages:
- Children must be shuttled around.
- Parental noncooperation or ill will can have seriously negative effects on children.
- Maintaining two homes for the children can be expensive.
If you have a joint custody arrangement, maintain detailed and organized financial records of your expenses. Keep receipts for groceries, school and after-school activities, clothing and medical care. At some point, your ex may claim he or she has spent more money on the kids than you have, and a judge will appreciate your detailed records.
For more information about child support, including how it’s calculated, see DivorceNet’s section on Child Support.
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Understand Sole Custody Vs Joint Custody
When it comes to child custody, first you have to understand the difference between legal and physical custody. Legal custody refers to having the legal authority to make decisions for the child, whereas physical custody refers to how much time a child spends living with each parent. Depending on the circumstances involved in a child custody case, and the court’s decision based to determine the best interests of the child, parents can either be awarded “sole legal custody” or “sole physical custody,” or “joint legal custody” or “joint physical custody.”
When a parent has sole legal custody of a child, it means they hold the legal rights to all decision-making for that child, whereas those decisions may be shared if the arrangement is joint legal custody. If a parent has sole physical custody, the child lives with that parent, known as the “custodial parent,” the majority of the time , and visitation arrangements are made with the “non-custodial parent.” Joint physical custody, in most cases, means that the child splits their time evenly between both parents.
Child Custody And The Amount For An Eligible Dependant
Generally, if you are required to make child support payments to a current or former spouse or common-law partner for a child, you cannot claim an amount for an eligible dependant on line 30400 for that child.
If you and another person each have a clearly established requirement under a court order or written agreement to make child support payments for a child, normally neither of you would be able to claim the amount for an eligible dependant for that child. However in this case, you may still be eligible to claim the amount for an eligible dependant, as long as you and the other person agree that you will make the claim. If you cannot agree, neither of you can claim an amount for an eligible dependent for that child.
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What About The Issue Of Child Abuse And Full Custody Requests
Child abuse also qualifies as a justifiable reason seek a full custody request in California.
The nature and extent of the abuse, as well as its proximity to the filing, are all important factors.
Parents who wait and do nothing regarding abuse for many months or a year or more may face an uphill battle when trying to persuade the court that the past abuse is good cause for current full custody orders.
A family law judge has to be a realist.
It may be difficult to persuade a judge that something is an emergency or a child needs immediate protection if you have done little to nothing to protect the child from the very abuse about which you’re complaining.
In addition, delaying the reporting of the abuse and seeking a full custody request much later will put your own credibility at issue if:
On the other hand, if the abuse is recent or it has a lengthy history which is likely to be repeated, parents stand a very good chance of obtaining full custody of the children in order to protect the children from further abuse.
Can Grandparents File For Sole Custody
In North Carolina, grandparents do not have guaranteed visitation or custody rights. However, when deferring back to the best interests of the child principle, a grandparent can request visitation, particularly if its during an active divorce or custody dispute. Grandparents are often awarded visitation or temporary custody when there is an acrimonious custody case between the parents.
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Showing The Unavailability Of A Parent
Another dynamic here full custody may be awarded is when one of the parents is somehow unavailable or unable to communicate for periods of time. This can be for innocent reasons including work situations or professional travel.
It can also stem from alcohol or drug abuse, or unavailability due to mental health issues.
Can A Judge Ever Prohibit Access By A Parent
- A judge may restrict, or even prohibit, access if there is evidence that visitation would be very harmful to the child, as in instances of child abuse.
- Sometimes a Court will order that any visitation be supervised by a third party, such as a social worker, relative or court officer.
- Supervised visitation is sometimes held at locations such as TFI, where parents enter through different doors and visits are watched by experts. These services usually come with a fee, which is often split between the two parents.
- A parent who is banned from seeing a child may, at a later time, petition the Court for visitation if conditions improve.
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How To Apply For Custody Of A Child In The Uk
The old ideas of child custody no longer exist in English law. Its true however that parents often refer to who will get custody, ask about shared custody and have questions about their rights to have custody of their child. Youll still also see media headlines referring to people being taken to court over child custody and TV programmes where a character says they are going for full custody.
Under current English law if you cannot agree as parents where you children will live and when and how they will spend time with each parent you can apply for a Child Arrangements Order.
Gathering Evidence For The Custody Hearing
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