If you are on this website you are probably trying to spend more time with your child or children. There are many different arrangements that the court can decide is fair for everyone involved and is in the best interest of the child or children. Sole legal custody, joint legal custody, primary physical custody, and shared physical custody are some terms you may have heard. Sole legal custody is when one parents has all the authority to make educational and medical decisions. Joint legal custody is when both parents make educational and medical decisions together. Primary physical custody denoted when the child lives primarily with one parent. Shared physical custody is when the child spends roughly equal time with each parent. These decisions are medical or educational as well as who is responsible for paying for certain things. The court takes several things into consideration when making these arrangements. Some of the factors are what is in the best interest of the child or children, what is fair for the parties involved, and who has been taking care of the child or children before the court hearing. What is most important to the court is the safety and wellbeing of the child or children and not unjustly keeping a parent away from their child or children. That being said, sometimes a parent or guardian can be misrepresented in court and get a judgment that is not fair or not in the best interest of the child. Circumstances can also change. For example, a parent or guardian can start to make enough money to have proper living standards to provide for the child. In these cases, if you want to change a ruling by the court, it is important to prove this to the court whether by yourself or with the help a good child custody lawyer. Having a good child custody lawyer will help you show the court what you think is fair, and assist you in doing the things that the court sees as taking good care of the child or children as well as good faith efforts to co-operate with the other parent.
