Child Custody Laws varies in America from state to state. One can obtain the most current information from his state’s law. When it comes to children custody Laws, there are some states that have all the procedures laid out to make the life of divorcing parents and their children easy. The court judges also follow these guidelines to help in determining the custody of the child while divorce.
There are very few federal laws applicable to child custody. Some of them speak about transporting of children across different states. Some states have laws that also deal with the jurisdiction of other states. But your state may or may not have such provision. Hence it is advised that you check all the provisions in the law of your state before you start with custody of your child. So if both parents lives in different states, the state where the children live will have influence. Of course you have to see where the law suite for divorce and custody has been filed. You cannot file for custody in a state where none of the parents reside.
Children custody Laws have been prepared considering interest of the children. The law makers have tried to make sure that the custody of a child doesn’t go to abusers of alcohol or drug. They have also tried to protect the children from going into an environment where they may be subjected to mental or physical abuse.. Many states offer joint-custody between the two parents, where they get to be a functional part of bringing their children up. In this case, both parents share physical and legal custody of their common children. This situation is most beneficial to understanding parents. But some parents also try to exploit this privilege by dishonoring the law.
One needs to understand the different between Physical and legal custody. Often parents make mistakes in understanding this difference only to repent. If the child is living with a parent, then that parent is said to have physical custody of that child. Also a parent has a physical custody of a child if it stays for a large portion of time with that parent. It is a common practice with children to go to another parent during summer vacation. A physical custody goes from one parent to the other during such situations.
Legal custody speaks about the rights and responsibilities that allow parent to make important decisions about education, health, and well being of their children. In most cases, both legal and physical custody lie with the same parent. Joint custody is an exception to this rule. In joint custody, courts decides which parent the legal custody must remain with. Things are easy when there is a consensus between parents about what is good for their child.
One must look into the child-custody laws of his state to decide what the best solution is for you and your child. It is advisable to put child’s interest first while making custody decisions.