CHILD CUSTODY

Nothing is more important to parents than their children. The unfortunate reality of divorce is that children are unable to spend the same amount of time with both parents as they were before their parents divorced. When representing mothers and fathers in cases involving the custody of children, we strongly encourage parents to put the interests of the children first and to seek a fair custody agreement that protects the best interests of the children. In cases when a mutual agreement is not possible, our firm aggressively advocates for the parental rights of the clients we represent.

If you are involved in a custody dispute with your spouse, a relative, third party, or the government, we can help.

Representing the Rights of Mothers and Fathers

We represent men and women in all child custody disputes between parents, third parties and the government. We have extensive experience representing clients in:

  • Child custody disputes in a divorce
  • Motions for change of custody
  • Paternity
  • Fathers’ rights cases
  • Visitation and time-sharing disputes
  • Third-party custody matters
  • Grandparent custody matters
  • Juvenile Dependency Court (cases involving the government)
  • Custody modification orders

If you are seeking an experienced child custody attorney who will aggressively fight to protect your rights to custody and visitation we have represented countless clients during her 20 years of legal experience. She practices exclusively in family law and has extensive experience in child custody cases. As a senior attorney with the Department of Children and Families, she was involved in hundreds of cases involving the custody and welfare of children.

Juvenile Dependency Hearings

Child welfare proceedings in Juvenile Dependency Court are different than child custody cases in divorce or paternity proceedings.

 

The judge mentioned “reasonable visitation,” what does that mean?
If the judge presiding over your separation or divorce determined that you or your ex-spouse was entitled to “reasonable visitation,” this generally means that it is left to the parents of the child (you and your ex-spouse) to come up with a plan of parental visitation time. When the parents are still able to cooperate, this is generally preferred over other means of determining visitation schedules because it allows the parents to work around their respective schedules.

In practice, however, the parent that has custodial rights will generally have more power and influence over what is considered “reasonable visitation” in terms of times and duration. The custodial parent has no legal duty to agree to any proposed visitation scheduled. However, if a parent is being inflexible just to be malicious towards his or her ex-spouse, a judge may take this into consideration if that parent asks for something later on.

In order for a reasonable visitation schedule to work, parents must be willing to communicate with each other in a kind and rational manner. If you know or think that you and your ex-spouse will not be able to cooperate in a reasonable visitation plan, you should tell the judge so and insist on a fixed visitation schedule instead. In addition, if you and your ex are currently under a reasonable visitation plan that is not working, you may go back to the court and ask for a different arrangement in terms of parental visitation rights.