Divorce isn’t just the legal ending of a marriage, it’s the dissolving of a family and for many that can be a catastrophic set of events where family life is concerned. Depending on your child’s age, mental and emotional state, the socioeconomic situation, and how volatile your divorce is, your child could suffer a great deal from a mishandled divorce. That’s why it’s important to keep in mind the best interest factors that should go into deciding who gets custody of a child.
Child custody involves doing what’s best for your child, not simply doing what you want.
Below are 5 of the most prominent best interest factors to consider for your child custody situation.
Your living situation
While you can offer much love and care to your child, the physical and monetary situation you bring them into matters a great deal. This isn’t just about money, it’s about location (is it outside your child’s current school district, is the area noisy or safe?).
If you’re keeping the family home, often it’s easier to win custody for the child’s own stability. But if this isn’t possible then you need to consider what having custody of your child in your living environment would mean for them.
Your child’s preference
While it can be painful to find out, your child may have their own opinion on who they want to live with full time. If your child is a teenager (generally 12 or older) the judge may confer with them to find out their preference and take that into consideration. Depending on your state, the court may be required to find out the child’s preference and bring it into the decision making. Other states do not.
Your relationship with your child
It happens sometimes in divorce that the parent who was absent or otherwise occupied suddenly has a desire to be close to their child when divorce happens and will fight for custody. If this is the case, you need to be fair to your child and honest with yourself.
Even if you’re sure that you will be an attentive and involved parent from now on, your child has no guarantees and only knows your behavior to this point, so allow them to go with the parent with whom they will be happiest and comfortable.
The cooperative relationship of you and your spouse
For visitation deliberations, your relationship with your spouse will become important. Are you friendly and supportive to each other? Or will the judge be presented with evidence that you will bad mouth your child’s other parent or generally be antagonistic when possible? This will be a factor in the visitation schedule.
Evidence of abuse or neglect
If a judge finds any evidence of emotion or physical abuse or neglect, not only will that parent be denied custody, their visitation will be limited a great deal by the judge as a child’s emotional and physical safety is paramount. This will trump any socioeconomic advantage a parent has.
Additional Questions
Does the sexual orientation of a marriage matter when it comes to awarding custody?
If you’re same-sex parents, your situation will be treated the same as a heterosexual couple. If parents have different sexual orientations, many states make it illegal for a judge to make a decision based on that information. In other states sexual orientation is allowed to be a factor, so do your research here and talk with your lawyer.
The laws in Michigan have changed in recent years and custody issues require an experienced divorce and family law lawyer to make sure your parental rights are secure, no matter your sexual orientation.
Does the child’s age matter in deciding custody?
There is no official law that decrees age of a child should be a factor, but there has been in the past and many judges believe that younger children should be placed with their mothers whenever possible.
Talk to a divorce and family law lawyer about your custody situation to make sure your rights as a parent are protected and your child is safe and secure. There is a lot to consider when it comes to custody, parenting time and child support so an experienced divorce attorney will yield a positive result for everyone involved.
Our divorce and family law firm in Jackson is committed to providing expert representation and guidance backed with over 60 years of experience in Michigan divorce laws including child custody.
The Law Offices of Rappleye & Rappleye handles all aspects of legal issues pertaining to child custody including sole, joint, termination and adoption, as well as grandparents’ rights. Call today for a Free Consultation.