New Jersey Child Custody
Provided by our New Jersey Child Custody Lawyer, Mark S. Guralnick
One of most emotional and difficult kinds of cases to resolve is a child custody case. Often, parents are unable to agree on who has custody or spends time with the children when the parents have separated or divorced. In general, courts prefer to allow children to have relationships with both of their parents. Unless there are serious reasons why one parent should not have time with his or her child, the courts favor joint custody arrangements. Of course, it is usually necessary to call one parent’s house their main home. In most cases, children will spend most of their time at one parent’s home and visit the other parent’s home. Therefore, it may be necessary for the court to decide who has primary custody and who has visitation rights. In some states, visitation rights are referred to as parenting time, partial custody or shared parental responsibility. If you are involved in a child custody case, it is important to speak with a qualified New Jersey child custody attorney today.
There is a difference between legal custody and physical custody. Legal custody refers to the right to make significant decisions concerning the child’s welfare. If two parents have joint legal custody of their child, it means that they must communicate with each other to decide significant matters involving the child’s health, education and overall well-being. It does not mean, however, that smaller decisions, such as how much food to buy for a camping trip, need to be decided on a joint basis.
Physical custody refers to the actual living arrangements with the child. The party who has primary physical custody or residential custody of the child will generally have the child in his or her custody during the school week, and for most of the overnight periods during the week. A non-custodial parent will have visitation rights or parenting time whenever the court decides or the parties agree.
There is no pre-ordained visitation timetable. In some families, the mother has primary custody of the children and they visit with their father on alternating weekends and on alternating holidays. In other families, the children visit with their father (or whichever parent is the non-custodial parent) every weekend, or sometimes on specific weeknights during the week. Still other families have a 50/50 arrangement in which the children stay at one home for a week, and then another home for a week, and so on and so forth in sequence. Almost any arrangement is allowed if the parties agree to it and if it serves the children’s best interest.
The best interest of the child is the general standard which the court looks at in determining whether a custody and visitation arrangement is proper. This means that the court will consider the best social and emotional interests of the child, the best education and academic interest, the best medical and health interests, and in certain cases, the best spiritual and religious interests and the best economic and financial interests. Any number of factors may go into the calculus of determining the best interest of the child. The Law Offices of Mark S. Guralnick has years of experience working with child custody cases. For more information about child custody laws and procedures, contact our New Jersey family lawyer today.