Going through a divorce is something that is never easy to do. With all of the emotions, alone, not to mention all of the legal matters, there is often a lot to the divorce process that can be pretty tough to deal with. When there are children involved, since their lives and futures are also being affected, the whole divorce process then takes on another degree of seriousness. Beyond just the happiness of the divorcing couple, the children's present and future health, well-being, and security should absolutely take central priority within a divorce.
When determining the status of child custody, the matter is most often taken up in the legal family court system. Though all cases are not necessarily contentious or conflictive, there are always many things that are taken into consideration relating to the well-being and safety of the children. The lives, livelihoods, and lifestyles of both parents will often be looked at, and perhaps examined in quite close detail. Other factors will also be strongly considered, such as the particulars of location, schooling, and the safety of the homes, among other things. Ultimately, whether they are divorcing parents or parents that are otherwise not together, the final resolution in a child custody case should always be in the absolute best interests of the children involved.
Beneath a federal standard, each state, and often each county in a state, may have distinct guidelines and procedures for handling child custody cases. However, the majority of cases are given a resolution of sole custody, joint custody, visitation, or supervised visitation. Sole custody is the resolution determining that, due to all of the factors considered, it is best for only one parent to have legal custody of the children. Somewhat similar to sole custody, only one parent is granted custody of the children in a resolution of visitation, but this allows the other parent the privilege to visit and spend time with the children for a certain amount of time. With supervised visitation, this time that the other parent is allowed to spend with the children must also be supervised and monitored by either the custodial parent or another appointed person.
In regards to joint custody, there is the distinction of joint physical custody and joint legal parent. In general, a resolution of joint custody allows both parents custody of the children, wherein the children will spending specific periods of time living with each. This is essentially what the phrase joint physical custody means. In some cases, it may be determined that only one parent as permitted to make certain decisions on behalf of the children, even with joint physical custody. In these instances, the determination may be called joint legal custody.
When handling child custody cases, the parents should always focus primarily on the health and well-being of their children, both in the present and in the future.
Visit this site for more information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_law.
