If you and your co-parent have decided to live apart, making appropriate arrangements for your children is likely a primary concern. Children benefit from close relationships with both their parents, and adjusting to separate households is easier when parents cooperate.
As you negotiate a parenting plan with your co-parent, it is critical to understand the forms of child custody in Southbury. Once you understand your options, you can work with your co-parent and a compassionate child custody attorney to devise a plan for your family.
The most important thing for parents to understand about custody is that the welfare of the children is the bedrock of every decision. The parents’ expectations, needs, and preferences are secondary when a judge makes a custody order.
The law lists seventeen factors a Southbury judge can consider when evaluating whether a custody arrangement serves the children’s best interests. The factors relate to the physical and emotional health of the parents and children, each parent’s capacity to meet the children’s individual needs, the stability of the home each parent provides, and the parent’s willingness and ability to cooperate. The judge can consider any other information they believe is relevant in a specific case.
Even when parents agree on a custody arrangement, it is not legal until a judge approves it. If the judge finds that a proposed arrangement does not serve the children’s best interests, they can reject it. The judge could ask the parents to amend their agreement or substitute their parenting plan.
Many people mistakenly believe that legal custody has something to do with where the children live. It does not. This form of custody assigns the Southbury parent decision-making authority over the children.
The most common arrangement is for parents to share legal custody, which means they make decisions about significant issues like healthcare, education, religion, and similar matters together. Sometimes, one parent has authority over some issues, and the other parent decides other matters, but more often, parents decide all issues together. Parents who share legal custody should identify a means for resolving disagreements when they occur.
Sometimes, a judge will assign legal custody to just one parent. In that case, the other parent still has the right to be informed of the other’s decisions. The parent without legal custody also retains access to the child’s educational and medical records in most cases.
Physical custody refers to where the child is living. Parents often share physical custody with the children splitting time as evenly as possible between the two households—this is usually called shared physical custody. Connecticut General Statutes §46b-56a says that shared custody is presumed to be in the children’s best interests if both parents are able to maintain such an arrangement.
A 50/50 time-sharing arrangement is often not logistically feasible for parents with shared custody. A shared physical custody arrangement could involve children spending much more time in one parent’s home but having substantial, regularly scheduled time with the other parent. A Southbury attorney can help parents create a parenting plan describing how to allocate time with their children.
Sometimes, a court awards primary physical custody to one parent. This situation might arise when one parent is not interested in or capable of being an actively involved parent or when a parent cannot provide a safe environment for the children. Even when a parent does not have physical custody rights, they almost always retain the right to regular visitation with the children. When a parent demonstrates that their co-parent poses a potential risk to the children’s wellbeing, a judge could order another responsible adult to supervise visits.
When you need to develop a parenting plan, understanding the forms of child custody in Southbury is crucial. One of our attorneys can provide you with guidance and assistance.
Your custody arrangements will profoundly impact your family, so it is important to create a thoughtful and workable plan. Contact us today to get started.
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