The dissolution of marriage is difficult and emotional. Not only is there the requirement to divide debts and assets, but a couple must also determine the best route for parenting the children. It is important to remember that the lives of children will be changing and you must do what you can to protect them. Through amicable custody and visitation arrangements, a divorcing couple can figure out what is best.
Options for Custody Arrangements
Before determining visitation rights, parents must first decide on a custody agreement. There are two different forms of guardianship in California, including:
Legal Custody: The legal custodian will be the major decision maker for health, dental, and education matters. There is an option for joint custody where both parents have a legal right to decide, however, the best option may be sole custody in which only one parent makes all of these decisions.
Physical Custody: The physical custodian is one with whom the child lives with. Similar to legal custody, this can also be either in joint or sole custody situation. Joint custody allows the child to live with both parents for periods of time. Sole custody requires that the child lives with one parent and may be able to visit the other parent.
A judge can implement any combination of child custody and visitation. One parent may have all rights and the other none, it can be split evenly down the middle, or any variation in between.
Visitation Variances
The parent who has physical custody of the child less than 50 percent of the time may have visitation rights. The amount of visitation is determined by what is best for the child but also considers other factors. The four forms of visitation rights are:
Visitation According to Schedule: An ideal method if both parents want to have equal rights, this plan avoids scheduling conflicts and provides ample visitation time. Plans can include important extracurricular dates, holidays, and other special occasions.
Reasonable Visitation: An open-ended option, this methodology is most conducive for parents who get along and can communicate, be flexible, and work it out among themselves.
Supervised Visitation: If being left alone with the visiting parent compromises the well-being of the child, visitation is limited and requires supervision. This option is also useful if the child and the visiting parent are estranged and need to become reacquainted. The supervising party may be the other parent or even a professional agent.
No Visitation: For cases when the welfare of the child is endangered, either emotionally or physically, the court deems that it is in the child’s best interest to have no visitation with that parent at all.
Contact Our San Jose Custody and Visitation Lawyer
Resolving a visitation conflict can be stressful. You may have an idea of what you want to accomplish but are not sure of the proper steps to achieve your goals. If you are interested in discussing your child custody or visitation options, contact an experienced and proven San Jose CA family law attorney. Call Dominion Law Group, LLP today at 408-288-5592 to schedule your initial consultation.
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