How is child custody decided?
If the parties agree on a parenting plan, the judge will make it into an order. Generally, the parents will share joint legal custoday: this means that they both shall participate in decisions about the children’s medical and educational needs. Each parent should be listed on the school’s forms and each parent can take the children to the hospital, to the doctor, participate in school activities, and so on. Physical custody, or physical residence, is where the children will live. If there is a dispute, the parties must see a counselor at Family Court Services. This mediation is free. The counselor tries to lead the parents to an agreement. If not, he/she will write a recommendation which goes to the judge; about 95% of the time, the judge will follow that recommendation. The counselor will consider who has been the primary caregiver? Is one home not stable? Do the children have special needs which are better met in one household? What is in the children’s best interest? I watch how fas
You may have heard of the “best interests of the child(ren).” This is the standard in all states in determining the custody of the child(ren). Each state has laws or “statutes” that govern child custody and each state lists several factors that the court will consider in deciding which custody arrangement will serve in “the best interests of the child(ren)”. That said, these several factors often provide only minimal guidance for the judge. The “best interests of the child(ren)” standard gives a good deal of power to the judge and is typically the most influential factor for the judge in making a custody decisions. Please keep in mind, that when the judge is forced to rule on your custody dispute, you are bringing in the element of surprise. There is never a guarantee (not even if your lawyer tells you) how the judge may rule on any specific custody case.
Unless the parties can agree, custody is determined by the “best interests of the children” standard. Both parents begin the process with an equal entitlement to parenting rights. There are statutory and other criteria, which Judges are to apply in making custody and parenting determinations. Please visit our “Child Custody” page to view a listing of these criteria. The Supreme Court in Beck v. Beck, 86 N.J. 480, 485 (1981) stated that the “pertinent statute [N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23] provides courts with broad authorization for custody determinations in divorce proceedings ….” See also Terry v. Terry, 270 N.J. Super 105 (App.Div.1994). Generally, in New Jersey, there are two overall concepts of child custody. The first is “Legal Custody.” This refers to the authority vested in the parents to make decisions of a non-routine nature, which affect the child’s health education or welfare. For example: While what to serve a child for dinner on any given day is a routine decision, the decision th
Generally, parents will share joint custody of any children. If parents can agree on a parenting solution, a judge will generally let this plan become the custody agreement. If the parents cannot agree on a parenting plan, or if one parent feels the other parent is an unfit parent, the judge will determine how time will be allotted with each parent.
The parents must decide on the custody of minor children. Custody includes physical custody, i.e., where will the children live. It also includes legal custody, or who will make the important decisions regarding the children’s health, education, etc. Both physical and legal custody can be either joint or sole. Note that joint custody means the sharing of parental rights and duties and not just necessarily equal time.
