Child Custody
Issues in divorce and paternity cases
Many
parents are confused about the various custody issues which
are determined by the Court at the time of a divorce or a paternity
action. Parents who married have these issues determined
after they separate in a divorce or dissolution action, parents
who did not marry will have these issues determined during a paternity
action.
Other than the issue of child
support which will not be discussed in this post, there are at least three
custody issues which are considered and eventually determined by the Court
in every case: (1) Legal custody, (2) physical custody, and (3) residential
parent status. I will briefly
explain each of these below.
The controlling factor in the
Court's decision making for all of these issues is legally required to be what
the Court determines to be in the best
interests of the child or children involved.
Missouri law starts out with the
presumption that most children are best served by having substantial and
continuing contact with both parents. Of
course, this presumption can be offset by proof that contact with one of the
parents or both of the parents could be physically or emotionally harmful to
the child or children. Significant proof is usually required for a court
to determine that contact with one or the other parent will be harmful to the
children.
Legal custody is basically a designation of which
parent or parents will make the major decisions in the child or children's
life. What school will the child or
children attend? What doctor will he or
she go to? What church will the child or
children attend? Will he or she go to
summer camp? What day care or baby
sitter will be used? What courses will
the child or children take in school?
Unless the Court order or parenting plan more specifically specifies any
of these decisions to one parent or the other, the decisions will be made by
the parent or parents with legal custody.
A court order granting joint legal custody of the children requires the parents
to make these decisions in concert, with both parents reaching an agreement on
each decision.
Physical custody, just as it sounds, is a determination of which parent
will have the child or children with them on what days of the week, month or
year. Often parenting plans or Court
Orders pertaining to physical custody are specific enough to designate the
exact hour of pickup and delivery of the child or children, location of the
custody exchange, and which parent pays any expenses associated with that
exchange of the children including transportation costs for the child. Transportation expense can become an
extremely contentious issue when parents live a significant distance apart
necessitating the purchase of airplane tickets etc.
Residential parent status determines
which parent's home address will be used for registration of the child or
children in the public school system or for any other educational purpose, and
which parent's home address will be used for mailing things to the child or
children. Sometimes the issue of the
child's home address is also a determining factor in private school eligibility
for attendance as in the case of parochial schools. It may also effect
which state university can be attended by the college age child at the "in
state" tuition rate.
As in all matters pertaining to
children, the ideal situation is when the parents can reach an agreement between
them as to what will be in the best interests of their children on these and
other issues.
In almost all court cases the custody rights discussed above
will be granted to the natural or adoptive parents of the child or
children in question. Under certain circumstances however,
the Court could make a determination that a third party should be granted
legal or physical custody of the children in question.
Our law firm has over 38 years of experience assisting our
clients with child custody issues in the Jefferson County Missouri court
system. If you want further information
about the services we provide you can visit our web site at www.schwentlaw.com. If you believe we
can be of assistance to you in a child custody or any other legal matter please call our office at (636) 937-4994.
