Child custody decisions are based on a wide range of factors. Understanding these factors and providing the right evidence are the first steps to obtaining the custody decision you want.
Your job history, income, and other factors related to personal finances must be considered when determining how your child will be cared for.
The following will help you determine the right legal strategies to protect you and your family’s wellbeing.
How Child Custody Decisions are Made
Child custody and other agreements must be established during a divorce. The primary objective of parents and family law court judges is to serve the best interests of the child.
Parents may agree on how child custody will be divided. But disagreements require family law courts to decide who will be given physical or legal custody.
A family law attorney can guide you through this process. Mediators may also be used depending on the circumstances of your case.
The following are just some of the factors that court judges consider to make decisions on child custody:
- Contribution of each parent
- History of care provided to the child
- Ability to meet the personal, health care, education, and other needs of the child
- Mental and physical health of the parent
- Parents ability to provide a stable home environment
- Employment and work schedule
How Job History Influences Child Custody Decisions
Your job history is an indication of your financial stability and may play a large role in the decisions made by family court judges. Lack of employment reduces your ability to provide the financial resources needed to meet the needs of your child.
A work schedule consisting of long hours away from home and work travel can also affect your ability to care for your child over the long run. But family law courts may try to accommodate the work schedules of parents in order to prioritize the child’s best interests.
They must ensure that both parents have as much time to participate in the child’s development as possible alongside any considerations related to work schedules.
If you or your spouse are unemployed, the courts may impute an income in order to properly determine child support. This is typically based on your work history and previous salary.
Court judges can also make any adjustments to the calculation made based on other factors.
Securing Child Custody
Working with the right family law attorney gives you the resources you need to secure custody of your child in a divorce.
Financial status must be considered when choosing the legal strategy you need. Providing the necessary resources for your child’s wellbeing is the most important goal in child custody decisions.
You or your spouse’s employment may change over time, resulting in the need to modify child custody or child support agreements. This lets both parties meet their child care obligations with minimal disruption to their wellbeing.
Significant changes income may require either parent to submit a petition for child custody or support modifications. But this is typically only allowed after the 2-year period following the initial order.
Changes in the needs of your child may require a parent to seek a child custody modification. The time and costs required to meet the needs related to a child’s health or education needs may impact custody agreements.
Securing the right custody agreement now and modifying the agreement in the future are some of the benefits you can achieve by working with a skilled family law attorney.
A legal professional helps you understand the process related to child custody while ensuring that you have the information you need to protect the wellbeing your entire family.