Child Custody Laws
In the family laws, the most fundamental point regarding child custody laws is that the court must always take the interest of the child in the case over any other side’s interest. To put it simply, this rule means that any order given according to the child custody laws will be towards the child’s benefits before the parents’. You can read about the execution of such ideas down below;
First of all, child custody laws always aim to keep the relationship between the child and both parents as pleasant as possible. Even if the parents are divorced, the attention of the two parents is necessary for the child’s quality of life.
As you may already know, holding a child’s custody allows a parent to make decisions on many important matters, such as religion, medical care, or consent to join the army. Essentially, the custody holder parent can decide the child’s life directions. So, what are the factors for such a critical case that the court looks into while executing child custody laws? Let’s have a look at the details.
Decisive Factors in Child Custody Laws
During the cases, the court considers all the deciding factors determined by the child custody laws. These factors are mostly related to the parent’s abilities with childcare. Any additional factors that can be effective in the case can also be decided to be taken into consideration by the court.
In a divorce case, the court needs to decide who will get child custody. This decision is depending on many factors. According to child custody laws, some of the factors are;
● Who did the childcare:
The court looks at the parent’s past and determines who has been doing most of the caretaking of the child during the marriage. Especially if there is a severe difference between the amount of attention and caretaking effort shown by the parents, this factor can be deciding matter in the case.
● Agreement between parents:
If the parents in the case have come to an agreement on a custody scheme, child custody laws tell the court to consider this agreement primarily.
● Health status of the parents:
If a parent has physical or mental health issues that can make it harder for them to take care of the child by themselves, the court may consider this before giving the final order.
Also, in some particular cases, it can be even risky to leave a child in the care of a parent with mental problems. Because of the importance of such situations, child custody laws allow the court to determine the custody order according to the health status of the parents.
● What the child wants:
In cases where the parents can’t agree on a custody scheme, child custody laws allow the court to ask about which parent the child wants to live together. Even though this doesn’t give the final result, it can be helpful for the court. And in the cases where the age of the child is above 12, the court will give even more importance to the child’s preference.
● Environment change for the child:
Almost all divorce cases result in one of the sides moving to another location, sometimes even completely different cities, or states.
So, if the court gives custody of the child to the parent who moves away, the children will be forced to get used to a whole new environment. They will lose all the friends they have, the school they were known, and the neighborhood they have been familiar with. This change can be harsh for a child’s life. Therefore, child custody laws tell the court to be careful about this change as well.
Factors That Child Custody Laws Prohibited to Be Used
As we mentioned, there are many factors determined by child custody laws that the court will use in custody cases. However, there are some other factors that the court can not look into for their decision. Because child custody laws forbid the usage of such factors. Some of these factors are;
● Gender:
Probably you may be thinking that in custody cases the court provides mothers with a stronger claim just because of the common belief of a female can do better with childcare. Such bias used to be a practice in use in the past. However, it is not acceptable anymore.
Child custody laws made it clear that any parent’s ability to take care of their child must be judged regardless of their gender. Instead, courts must consider the factors we mention earlier for both parents equally.
● Race:
By child custody laws, a court cannot give any decision considering any racial fact. For example, discussing a certain order because a parent is dating someone of another race is forbidden. Similarly, any ethnic diversity in the family is also cannot be a topic in the case unless it will be in the child’s interest.
● Disability:
While we mentioned that the health issues a parent has can affect the court order, just because a parent is disabled the court cannot decide against their custody request. According to child custody laws, before using this fact in court, any disability of a parent has to be proven to be preventing the individual from caretaking the child.
● Religion:
As stated by child custody laws, a court cannot use the religion of a parent as a reason to deny the child’s custody request. This rule only allows the court to make religion a deciding factor in the cases where the child did or can get any harm because of some practices of that particular religion.
More Info:
To learn more about Child Custody Laws, we recommend that you read the articles on our “Child Support” website. You can find information on this topic in many articles. In addition, some of the links on the page of lawyers’ offices may provide you with the most up-to-date information.
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