Divorcing or separating parents often have difficulty making custody and parenting time arrangements. No parent wants to contemplate being separated from their child, and negotiations can become intense and emotional.
During an initial consultation, a Lincoln County child custody lawyer could help you understand the state’s child custody laws. Courts emphasize that custody arrangements must be in the children’s best interests. A skilled family attorney could help you and your co-parent create a workable custody plan that supports the children.
Understanding Custody in Lincoln County
Courts strongly prefer parents to decide custody between themselves. Parents know how their schedules work, their children’s needs, and what they can manage. Understanding the types of custody arrangements and what they mean is critical as parents try to negotiate an agreement.
Legal Custody
Legal custody is the right to decide matters of importance, such as religious training, education, and healthcare. Courts prefer parents share legal custody and work together to make major decisions.
Under certain circumstances, though, the court might approve an arrangement that calls for one parent to have sole legal custody if the parent and their attorney can show it is in the children’s best interests. However, even when one parent has sole legal custody, the co-parent is entitled to access the child’s school and health records unless the parent with legal custody shows good cause why the other parent should not have access.
Physical or Residential Custody
Custody agreements designate one parent as the residential parent. The residential parent’s address determines the child’s school district and is the child’s address on all official records. Parents can create joint physical custody arrangements where parents share equal or near-equal time with the children.
Parenting Time
Parenting time is the scheduled time each parent is responsible for the children. Courts favor parenting time arrangements that allow both parents reasonable opportunities to maintain meaningful relationships with their children.
Parenting Plan
A parenting plan is a written agreement establishing who is the residential parent and how much time the children will spend with the other parent. The document must be specific regarding the dates and times the children will be with each parent, how the parents will manage holidays, who is responsible for transportation, and similar details.
When parents cannot agree on a parenting plan, a judge might direct them to try mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution. When a specific aspect of the parenting plan is an obstacle to an agreement, a seasoned Lincoln County child custody attorney could resolve the issue through negotiations with the other parent’s attorney.
If the parents agree on a parenting plan, they submit it to the court for review. The court must confirm that the plan supports the children’s best interests in order to be approved.
Kansas Revised Statutes § 23-3202 presumes that a plan both parents agree to is in the best interests of the children; however, the court must make an independent determination.
A court could consider multiple variables when deciding whether an arrangement is in the children’s best interests, such as:
The child’s relationship with each parent
Each parent’s experience and interest in being the primary caregiver
Each parent’s ability to anticipate and meet the child’s physical, emotional, and educational needs
Each parent’s mental and physical health
Each parent’s work schedule and ability to address emergencies involving the children when they arise
The judge may also consider the child’s preferences if they are old enough and mature enough to make a reasoned choice.
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High-Conflict Custody Issues
Resolving custody issues is more difficult if domestic violence or child abuse concerns exist or if one parent suffers from mental health or addiction issues. Shared custody might not be safe or appropriate in these circumstances.
A dedicated child custody lawyer in Lincoln County could discuss such concerns with a parent. Courts are reluctant to deny a parent access to their children, but there are precautionary measures courts are willing to take when safety is an issue.
A parent who has been the victim of domestic violence could ask the court for sole legal custody to limit communication with the violent co-parent. If the parent has well-founded concerns about the children’s safety in the company of the co-parent, the court could order supervised visitation. A social worker or other trained professional would be present during a visit to ensure the co-parent behaves appropriately and the children are safe.
Contact a Lincoln County Child Custody Attorney
Agreeing on custody and visitation issues can be challenging, but your children benefit if you and your co-parent work together. A Lincoln County child custody lawyer could assist in explaining relevant laws and helping you negotiate an acceptable arrangement.
Custody issues can be emotional, and it helps to work with someone with experience negotiating these matters.
Call today to speak with a well-practiced legal professional.
