Judges tend to be wary of changing the status quo particularly when children have found a home and are comfortable in their house. However, they will take preferences of children into consideration.
Talk directly with the child or have them give you their thoughts by an expert. But, they evaluate them against other aspects discussed below.
Living arrangements
Child custody will depend on many variables. Living arrangements of parents, their lifestyle and financial standing in addition to their capacity to manage the care of the child, are all factors. For example, a judge may decide to grant a parent custody claim if they've the stability of their home as well as a tidy home. The arrangement of living can also be impacted by the child's age. For instance, a court will be more attentive to the needs of an older child than a younger child.
An New York family law lawyer can assist you in understanding how living arrangements could impact your situation. If, for instance, the child is living with the parents in a shared home, you may receive jointly legal custody and access rights to visitation. Shared legal custody arrangements allows both parents to take part in deciding on the child's education and medical requirements as well as extracurricular activities, religion and other legal issues. The child, however, will reside with one parent for the majority of time.
The court can also give sole physical custody to one parent who is entitled to the visitation of a parent. It is not uncommon for both parents custody of child to have a strong relationship with their children, and they make significant decisions together without any tension. Also, it is commonplace in the case of children living with both parents and will be able to deal with frequent exchanges. Communication with parents who are not custodial can be done through telephone messages, email, texts messages, events at school as well as other visits and activities supervised by one of both parents.
Child's wish
The wishes of your child will be considered in any custody decisions you make if you are engaged in divorce. However, it's vital to be aware that a judge's choice will be dependent on what's best for the child's health as opposed to what parents' wishes.
Many states have laws on the books, that define certain elements a court should consider in making a decision on custody. These include factors such as preference of children as well as their relationship with the parents and siblings, as well as how parents will give shelter and help.
A court might be obligated to take into consideration the preferences of a child at a certain date. In Texas, Mississippi and Tennessee in particular, a child must reach the 12-year-old age before a judge is able to consider their preference. In certain cases the judge will interview the child to assess the maturity of their child. In these sessions, parents are not allowed to attend, so a legal guardian, also known as a "guardian ad in litem" will typically be assigned to talk in the interview with the child.
Judges are often at times influenced by the opinion that of a neutral third party. The guardian is neutral and doesn't represent any parent. They'll share what they believe is best to the child.
Miss or abusive
The court may decide to deny custody of the parent who is abusive or about to be violent towards their child. It covers all kinds of violence, physical, psychological and sexual. If there is evidence of abuse and notified to the police right away and any evidence that is found to be relevant should be provided to the court. These evidences can be witness statement or affidavits by relatives members, photographs of injuries or vandalism, and the records of telephone calls containing threats or intimidation.
Neglect and abuse can be difficult to identify and kid's behavior may be confusing. A few indicators of neglect are an insecurity towards parents and strangers, a heightened level of friendliness towards them as well as inappropriate sexual behavior for children of a certain age and lack of hygiene. Neglect also can be indicated in the absence of a standard of living, proper clothing, food and shelter, or medical assistance.
In some cases, a judge will ask Child Protective Services, for Long Island cases, or the Administration for Children's Services, for New York City cases to execute what's called a Court Ordered Investigation. The worker will visit the family home, conduct interviews with the parents and child before writing the report which will then be scrutinized by both lawyers and judges. The discovery procedure is where the parties are able to request specific information such as depositions, and documents of the other party. This procedure is used to ensure that domestic abusers may influence the process of negotiating custody by requesting excessive information.
Age of the child
The age of the child plays a significant part in the custody arrangement and custody arrangements, particularly for older children. The older children have greater independence and can express their own wants to the court. They also have particular challenges, such as what they can save to pay for college and how can pay for their portion of expenses for the household. Some states allow judges to take into consideration preferences for children who are older than 14 years of age, provided that they are most beneficial to them.
The courts followed a doctrine called the doctrine of the tender years. According to this standard, the care of a small child was awarded automatically to the mother of the child unless legitimate reason was provided to prevent the custody. But, courts have now abandoned the doctrine. Judges now decide which of the parents is ideal to care for children. A judge will be considering the needs of the child, their sex or age as well as gender when making a decision about custody or access.
The children between the ages of two and three year olds aren't able to handle long periods away from one parent. They have to build strong relationships with both parents. They cannot handle the alternating schedules of week-long work. Many judges recommend flexibility in the range of ages. This can lead to better co-parenting, and less conflict. Children may not adhere to the visitation schedule and may not meet the other parents. A judge may hire an expert in social work to decide what the child's needs are.
Gender
Many men believe that the courts favour mothers when it comes to custody issues and that they are unjust to fathers. This perception is based on gender stereotypes that claim women naturally care for children and are better equipped to raise children than boys. Certain studies have shown that prejudice against gender persists, even in the absence of gender neutral laws and research. The media may selectively report incidents of gender bias or misogynistic frameworks which are embedded in social norms.
Gender bias in child custody cases is also influenced by how judges rate a parent's conduct and contributions to child care. For example, judges may believe that men have to be "better in their conduct" than women in order to win a custody case. This may result in a biased decision in custody, in addition to discrimination based on women.
Another reason judges can exhibit bias in custody matters is that they're biased towards single fathers. This could be because they believe that men just care for themselves and their buddies and do not care about their children. Maybe it's just an assumption, because studies show that fathers who are single take as much care for their kids.
The gender-based bias in custody battles by allowing greater participation of all parties in the process of making decisions. The jury could also be involved. Another way to do this is to make sure all parties are provided with the same information before making an decision. This prevents bias from occurring, as it gives both parents to have an opportunity to win custody.
Financial ability
As a general rule, finances and wealth are not as much of an impact on child custody decisions as compared to other aspects. Judges still will consider parents' income into account but they will do so with regard to other elements like their ability to look after the child and whether or not they have the financial means to keep the child in the same arrangement.
The court may use an exact formula unique to each state to calculate child support. It is determined by elements like the earnings of both parents, the incomes of other children from previous marriages, costs associated with childcare, the medical insurance coverage of the child, and the percentage of the custodial parent to cover the expenses of day to bringing up the child. If a parent paying child support suspects that their spouse has misappropriated child support money, the parent can request an appeal or a modification from the state agency or a judge.
Parents who pay child support should be aware that they are not able to challenge the expenditure habits of their custodial parents as they are not legally bound to record the data. If one of the parents believes that the parent of their child has been spending money on purchases that are not in the best interests of their child, they can hire an attorney, or talk for local social services. It is important to remember that the law is not able to enforce child support until the age of 18, and the court can change the amount of child support in the event that there has been a significant change in the financial position of parents.