Separation or divorce sometimes leads to custody disputes between co-parents, and one may seek full child custody in Southbury. If you are pursuing sole legal and physical custody of your children, you must provide clear evidence that your co-parent poses a risk to the children’s health, safety, or well-being. Contact an experienced child custody attorney at our firm to help you make your case.
When they live separately, parents must address two forms of custody: legal and physical. Connecticut General Statutes § 46b-56 allows parents to do the following:
Legal custody concerns decision-making authority over the child’s life. The parent with legal custody can decide issues pertaining to the child’s education, religion, and healthcare. Physical custody refers to a parent being responsible for a child’s day-to-day well-being, including maintaining a home, providing nourishment, etc.
Most parenting arrangements in Connecticut allow both parents to participate in decision-making and share time with the children. In some cases, the parents agree that one should have decision-making authority or provide a home for the children, and the other should have periodic parenting time. When one parent seeks full custody over the other’s objection, they must work with a Southbury attorney to collect and present persuasive evidence that the other parent is not fit.
Connecticut family court judges base all custody decisions on the best interests of the children. The law presumes that children benefit from having a meaningful relationship with both their parents. Making a case for sole legal and physical custody requires evidence that allowing the other parent decision-making responsibility or custody rights is contrary to the children’s best interests.
Circumstances are in a child’s best interest when they promote their physical and emotional health, support their happiness, and prioritize their well-being. A parent can prove that allowing the other parent a role in the child’s life is contrary to the child’s best interests by demonstrating that the other parent:
Parents making these allegations must support them with credible evidence. When a family law attorney presents clear and persuasive evidence that a parent may pose a danger to their children, a judge may limit that parent’s decision-making authority and contact.
On the whole, judges will aim to preserve a parent’s relationship with the children to the degree possible and craft orders encouraging a parent to correct a problematic situation. They often seek solutions that protect the child without barring contact between the parent and child.
When a parent has a problem with substance abuse, anger management, or mental health issues, a judge may require supervised visitation. The parent will not be allowed to have the children stay overnight in their home but can visit with them on a set schedule with another responsible adult present. The supervising adult ensures the parent’s behavior is appropriate and that the children are emotionally and physically safe.
A judge might also direct that a parent undergo drug or alcohol treatment, submit to regular drug tests, undergo counseling, or take other steps to become a safer parent. If the parent complies with the judge’s orders, they can petition the court to modify the custody agreement and obtain legal or physical custody rights.
When one parent seeks sole custody and the other objects, courts will often appoint a third party to act as custody evaluators to help the judge make their decision. A lawyer in Southbury can explain how an evaluator works and help a parent manage the process of obtaining full child custody.
Courts award full child custody in Southbury only when one parent can prove the other is unfit. This is a heavy evidentiary burden, and you need the help of a skilled lawyer to meet it.
Our legal professionals are devoted to helping parents meet their custody goals. Schedule a meeting today to discuss how we can help you pursue sole child custody.
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