Child Custody Questions
Possible Child Custody Questions
Out of all the issues that can arise out of divorce or other family law issues, probably the most intense, most touchy subject is that of the children – where will they go, what will happen to them.
The issue is child custody. And you can bet that there are a ton of child custody questions out there….
Things You Will Need to Know About Child Custody
Here are some common child custody questions:
1. Does losing child custody mean I’ll never get to see my kids?
2. What can I do to get custody back?
3. How can I lose custody of my children?
4. Can child custody be negotiated?
5. Are there certain kinds of child custody, or just one specific kind?
6. What provisions exist with child custody?
7. Do the children always go with a parent or relative when losing custody?
And you can bet that there are a million more child custody questions a parent can ask. And unfortunately, sometimes the answer isn’t always what a parent wants to hear.
For starters, though, some relief can be presented in the midst of all these child custody questions, starting with the first question:
No. Losing child custody doesn’t necessarily mean a parent will lose the children. Many times, this question, though, can be at the top of the list of child custody questions for obvious reasons. But the fact is losing child custody only means that a child or children cannot live with the particular parent. Often a parent will be able to have parenting time or visitation rights.
Furthermore, there are a number of things a parent can do to obtain custody back:
1. File a Petition for Modification of Child Custody
2. File a Complaint for Violation of Parenting Time
3. If Kids Were Removed Due to CPS, Follow Procedures and All Recommendations to Receive Children Back in the Home
The first one is obvious. If there’s ever an issue, a parent is completely within his or her rights to file a petition. In addition, a complaint on the custodial parent can also be filed due to a violation of parenting time simply on the fact that the custodial parent did not adhere to the Divorce Decree ordered. Parenting time is held at a high esteem, just as much as custody. Breaking it can have drastic consequences.
CPS (Child Protective Services), however, is a completely different story. Except for some extreme cases where CPS may overstep their authority, a parent who has lost custody may only conform to the stipulations addresses by CPS during a PPC, otherwise known as a ‘Permanency Plan.’ If the parent conforms after a certain period of time, the judge in the CPS case may award custody back to the parent.
When considering child custody, know this: it’s something that can be negotiated. How? Because there are different types of child custody:
1. Legal Sole Custody
2. Legal Joint Custody
3. Physical Sole Custody
4. Physical Joint Custody
It’s important to know these, because each kind of custody is different. ‘Legal’ custody simply means that a parent obtains the long-term responsibilities to take care of the child(ren) in terms of education, religion, lifestyle, and other such long-term decisions. A parent can actually have ‘legal’ custody without ‘physical’ custody, which is simply custody involving a child(ren) living in the home with the parent.
Sole custody, of course, is when one parent has those specific rights; joint custody is when both parents share them.
There are even times when neither parent obtains custody at all. In this case, foster care can become an option as well as other satisfactory relatives, such as grandparents.
