How are child Custody and visitation issues decided?
This can be done by a friendly agreement or you can let the court make the decisions for you. Whenever there are children, the courts carefully study the child custody agreements more closely than other agreements. However, most courts feel that parental decisions should be honored unless they are clearly contrary to the children’s best interest. The court believes that unless shown otherwise, the parents are in the best position to understand their children’s needs. Contested child custody issues are the most difficult for the court to decide. In these cases, the children are generally represented by a Guardian ad Litem who is appointed by the court. The guardian conducts an investigation and makes custody recommendations to the court. The court generally hears evidence at trial pertaining to, among other factors, the parenting skills of each parent, the bond between the children and each parent, the bond among the children, and the ability of each parent to recognize the importance o
As with any other divorce related issues, child Custody can be resolved by agreement between the parties, or by court order after a contested hearing. Because children are involved, the courts tend to scrutinize child Custody agreements more closely than other agreements. However, most courts feel that parental decisions should be honored unless they are clearly contrary to the children’s best interest because the parents are deemed to be in the best position to understand their children’s needs. In a contested situation, the Custody mediator or a member of the conciliation court interviews the parents, and sometimes the children, and may make Custody and visitation recommendations to the court. As a general rule, the court then hears evidence at the order to show cause hearing or trial pertaining to, among other factors, the parenting skills of each parent, the bond between the children and each parent, the bond among the children, and the ability of each parent to recognize the impor
