Child custody visitation rights are one of the most emotional issues that must be settled in a divorce action. States laws for virtually every state use the “best interests of the child” standard when settling questions of custody or visitation rights. The best interests of the child are often hotly contested. If parents were in agreement on custody and visitation rights, they likely would not be in court at all.
Courts Left to Decide Custody
When parents cannot come to an agreement on custody and visitation, the decision is left to the courts. The emotion is intense when one parent feels that the other parent is taking his/her children away. Family law judges are often put in a position of determining whether parents should have joint or physical custody and how the visitation or parenting schedule should work. In most court districts, judges do not have the time necessary to know both parents, the children, and the family dynamics well enough to make a decision as to what would best serve the children.
Parenting Evaluators
A current trend in courts is to turn the custody and visitation rights decision over to experts in parenting and children. A judge may order a parenting expert to conduct an evaluation, or the parties may agree to have a custody evaluation of their own choosing. The parents can agree to abide by the suggestions made or the court can decide whether to adopt the custody evaluator’s findings.
A custody evaluator typically meets with each parent individually as well as together and meets with the children individually and with each parent. The evaluator may interview people who know the family including friends, neighbors, teachers, or extended family members. Whether or not a person uses a custody evaluator he/she may want to have these same people write letters of recommendation to the court on his/her behalf. An evaluator may also use various testing methods to determine whether one parent is more emotionally suited to be a sole custodian of the children.
Some Parents Settle When They Realize it’s the Best Option
Parenting experts can be expensive and even in highly contested custody cases, parents sometimes decide it would be better for the family to come to an agreement on their own rather than spend the money fighting each other for custody, or have a judge decide for them. It is easy for parents to get entrenched though in their individual positions and even parents with the best intentions can get caught up in the emotion of the process.
Getting Legal Help
Custody and visitation rights are complex legal issues that are emotionally fueled. Due to the personal and emotional nature of custody disputes, it is particularly important for a parent to have an experienced family law attorney represent him/her. An objective voice who can construct effective arguments based on the law and not on emotion will be far more persuasive in a court. An attorney will fill that role for a parent so a parent can focus on staying emotionally healthy and on caring for the children.
