When a custodial decision cannot be reached by a couple and is turned to a court to determine, a task is given to the court to ensure that the best decision is made in the interest of the child. A court reaches this by various methods of standard tests and evaluations that produce unpredictable results (Dolan & Hynan, 2014). There has been a recent suggestion by the American Law Institute called the “Approximation Rule”. Under this proposal, recently divorced parents share of time within their custody should be allocated to approximate the proportion of time each parent spends with the child on a detailed list of childcare tasks prior to their divorce (Dolan & Hynan, 2014). This assessment is geared towards awarding custody rights to the parent
- The child's father visitation plan is court ordered, as a result of her daughter's divorce.
The lawyers highly support a joint custody that would benefit the child. The lawyers argue the case on two different aspects.
This best interest stance includes lessening the trauma experienced by any children involved in divorce situations. Florida believes this perspective includes ensuring consistent and frequent contact between children and each of their parents. The sharing of parental rights, child rearing responsibilities, decision-making and joys provides the foundation of the court’s decisions in custody cases.
Meyer argues that mothers who spend more time with their children should be more likely to obtain custody rather than the fathers. Using support from the Pew Research Center, Meyer states that married fathers spend a round 6.5 hours a week taking care of their children, while mothers
In 1997 the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) created the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) to replace the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act (UCCJA), which was created in 1968. Like the UCCJA, the new and improved UCCJEA served the purpose of “deter[ing] the removal or kidnapping of children, eliminat[ing] interstate jurisdictional competition, and prevent[ing] states from relitigating custody decisions from other states.” (Ehrlich, p. 411) Since its creation, the UCCJEA has been a major go-to reference for Courts in all states except Massachusetts and Vermont, who have not yet adopted said act, when considering the technicalities of jurisdiction for child custody cases.
Additionally, courts are shying away from the older method of “awarding custody” to one parent at the expense of the other. Courts will try to find a fair balance between parents, and if the court senses that you are trying to “horde” custody or gain too much control, they will likely rule against you.
Additionally, we conclude that pertinent factors (i.e. decreased parenting time) were not considered resulting in inaccurate findings. When considering a modification of parenting time, the court must consider the following factors: relationship between parent/s and child, interaction between the child and parent/s and others who could significantly affect the child’s best interest, child’s adjustment to home, school and community, wishes of the child (when appropriate), and the mental and physical health of all involved. According to Arizona law, unless evidence is provided to the contrary, it is generally in the best interests of the child to have “substantial, frequent, meaningful, and continuing parenting time with both parents.” No such evidence was presented. There was no question as to the fitness of either
Child relocation laws and best practices in the United States vary from state to state. Child custody in Arizona is defined as “legal decision-making” for the child and visitation is known as “parenting time”. The term “child custody” is no longer used, effective January 1, 2013. The court can order one or both parties to have legal decision-making authority for the child(ren) and consider many factors, falling under A.R.S. 25-403. In the case of joint legal decision-making authority, both parents must work together to make decisions regarding the child. If one parent is granted sole legal decision-making authority, they make decisions about the child without consenting the other parent as long as it
There is no statute, formula or template which the courts would rely upon to decide cases related to children visitation. The relationships between parties, such as non-custodian parent, de factor parent, same sex partner, grandparents, aunt and uncle and the children subject to visitation dispute are complex. During the last several decades, the phrase “best interest of the child” has evolved. Many states have a set of criteria to define the “best interest of the child;” however, the State of Massachusetts is among a few states which reserves the trial judges with judicial authority and discretion to decide based on the material facts and evidence presented at trial.
Krysik, J., & Lecroy, C. (2012). Development and Initial Validation of an Outcome Measure for Home Visitation: The Healthy Families Parenting Inventory. Infant Mental Health Journal , 496 - 505.
Jane and jack were not happy with their marriage and decided to get divorce. They decided to share legal and physical custody of their three kids which they think is the best for kids. “After a recent meta-analytic of thirty-three studies of custody, one researcher reported that children in joint physical or joint legal custody were better adjusted than children in sole custody” (C&B 201). Joint custody gives kids change to see the both parents and it also gives both parents chance to be involved with their kids’ lives. Both Jane and Jake knew “continued conflict between parents is one of the causes in children’s divorce problems” and they wanted their kids to adjust the divorce quickly and to do that they knew they had to be cooperative and get along well.
Alternative response (AR) (also called an assessment response or family assessment response) in this publication, the terms alternative response (or pathway) and assessment response (or pathway) are used interchangeably. These responses—usually applied in low- and moderate-risk cases—typically do not require a formal determination or substantiation of child abuse or neglect, and names are not entered into a central registry. Both pathways for the most part envelop evaluations of child wellbeing and/or hazard. An exhaustive family evaluation concentrated on family 's qualities and necessities is integral to AR and might likewise be incorporated with IR. Both pathways offer numerous basic standards and objectives, including an emphasis on child security, permanency, and prosperity. ((n.d.). Retrieved December 20, 2015, from https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/differential_response.pdf)
Alternative response (AR) (also called an assessment response or family assessment response) in this publication, the terms alternative response (or pathway) and assessment response (or pathway) are used interchangeably. These responses—usually applied in low- and moderate-risk cases—typically do not require a formal determination or substantiation of child abuse or neglect, and names are not entered into a central registry. Both pathways for the most part envelop evaluations of child wellbeing and/or hazard. An exhaustive family evaluation concentrated on family 's qualities and necessities is integral to AR and might likewise be incorporated with IR. Both pathways offer numerous basic standards and objectives, including an emphasis on child security, permanency, and prosperity. ((n.d.). Retrieved December 20, 2015, from https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/differential_response.pdf)
"shared parenting" is a controversial topic in family law. It generally refers to the presumption that children of divorced or separated parents should spend an equal (or almost equal) amount of time with each parent. The concept has largely been promoted by fathers' organisations that contend that a child's life is enhanced if both parents continue to be significantly involved in the child's life following separation or divorce.
The purpose of this paper was to give some insight into the vicious battles that take place over child custody. It is important to mention that raising children is difficult even with two parents, now when there is only one parent the difficultly increases by leaps and bounds. The idea of joint custody seems to sound like a good solution however, Smith (2003) stated