Child Custody Law Overview - Basic and General Legal Information

When a marriage ends in divorce it can often be a time filled with anxiety and emotions. Having an experienced family law attorney that specializes in divorce as well as child custody will help ease the anxieties that people experience. Child custody refers to the guardianship of the children after the divorce. Child custody laws have been established in each state to help make the process a bit easier.

Common Types of Child Custody

Many states have set up child custody laws to help formalize the process and to try to avoid any unfairness that could occur. There are a few types of child custody arrangements. The first is known as physical custody. Physical custody is where the children reside. In this arrangement often one parent is awarded physical custody and the other is awarded visitation rights. The second most common type of child custody is joint custody. A joint custody arrangement is when both parents are awarded legal joint custody and they share the parenting time equally as well as making decisions affecting the children together. There are other forms of child custody that can be arranged and an experience family law attorney will be able to advice a person as to the child custody arrangements available in their state.

Determining Child Custody

In most divorce cases the parents reach a child custody arrangement without any court intervention. However, when the parents cannot come to an agreement the court will intervene and make the decision. When court intervention is needed to make the child custody arrangement it determines what is in the best interest of the children. The court bases this determination on many factors such as the age of the children, health, current living situation as well as the relationship the children have with each parent. In some cases, the court will take statements from older children regarding which parent they wish to reside with.