Child Custody Attorneys Greenfield

Child Custody Attorneys Greenfield

If you share children with someone whom you no longer live with, your child custody arrangements are a primary concern. Child custody cases often arise out of divorce, and post-divorce modifications related to significant changes in circumstances are also common. Parents who were never married can also face complicated child custody issues, but a child custody attorney in Greenfield can help. 

Child Custody Arrangements in California

In the State of California, child custody arrangements between the parents of shared children are addressed in terms of both legal custody and physical custody. While either type of custody can be sole or joint, it is rare that visitation between a parent and child is denied completely. California courts base their child custody determinations on the best interests of the children involved, and prevailing expertise finds that children’s emotional health is best served when they have the opportunity to maintain relationships with both parents. 

Legal Custody

Legal custody addresses the matter of decision-making authority as it relates to the central decisions of parenthood, including:

• Decisions about your children’s schooling
• Decisions about your children’s medical needs
• Decisions about your children’s participation in extracurricular activities and travel
• Decisions about your children’s religious education

Sole legal custody means that one parent takes on this decision-making responsibility themself, but joint legal custody can take any of the following forms:

• You and your children’s other parent make these decisions together.
• You and your children’s other parent make these decisions together, while one of you has the power to break a tie when your mutual efforts to resolve the issue prove ineffective.
• You and your children’s other parent divide these decisions between you according to the category of decision that needs to be made at the time. For example, one of you may take on education and extracurriculars while the other makes decisions related to health care and religious upbringing.

Physical Custody

Your parenting time or visitation schedule is the outcome of physical custody. In some cases, one parent has the children the majority of the time and, as a result, becomes the primary custodial parent. Other couples, however, split their parenting time more uniformly. The factors the court takes into consideration when resolving physical custody arrangements include primary concerns like the following:

• The age and overall health and development – including any special needs – of each child
• The overall mental and physical health of each parent in relation to his or her ability to provide the children with the care and attention they need
• Each parent’s ability and desire to care for the children
• The level of emotional connection each parent has with the children
• Any history of domestic abuse, child abuse or neglect, or addiction

It is Time to Consult with an Experienced Child Custody Attorney in Greenfield

If you are facing a child custody concern, the trusted child custody attorneys at Miranda, Magden & Miranda, LLP, in Greenfield are committed to employing their impressive experience in pursuit of a case resolution that upholds your parental rights and works for you. Please do not wait to learn more by contacting us today.