If you are involved in a divorce, you may have questions about child custody. If so, you need to speak to a family attorney in Wilkes-Barre, PA, such as John T. O’Malley, Attorney At Law. By doing so, you can get the help you need to facilitate a divorce that is resolved on amicable terms.
Making a Decision for Custody
In most circumstances, a family attorney will tell you that both parents have equal rights to custody. Courts make decisions for child custody based on what they believe will be in the best interests of a child. While there is no absolute measure, some of the factors a judge considers are a child’s age, any evidence of domestic violence or abuse, and a child’s physical health and emotional development.
Legal Custody
Judges will give more weight to a teen child’s preferences than to those of a younger child. However, that does not mean they are bound by those preferences. When you work with a family attorney, you can better understand how the process benefits all the parties involved. Legal custody gives a parent the ability to make all the decisions on the child’s behalf, including their education, religion, discipline and medical care and treatment.
Physical Custody
On the other hand, physical custody enables a parent to have the child reside with them. A parent with physical custody, however, does not have the right to make decisions on a child’s behalf if legal custody was given to the other parent in a divorce settlement.
When a parent is awarded sole custody, they have both physical and legal custody of their child or children. The custodial rights of a parent are normally subject to the visitation rights of a non-custodial parent. The terms of these agreements can be ironed out between you and a family attorney. John T. O’Malley, Attorney At Law are well experienced lawyers in Wilkes-Barre, PA.
