Parents in New Jersey and elsewhere view quality time with their children as important and necessary for a strong parent-child relationship. Thus, if this time is constrained or reduced due to a split or a divorce, it can feel like this relationship is at risk.
Child custody matters, whether contested or not, can generate a wide range of emotions and concerns. While this is reasonable and often expected, it does not make the process any easier. Going from spending time with your child full to half of the time or less is a major shift in the lives of parents as well as the children involved.
Common child custody issues
Many factors need to be considered and assessed in family law matters. The Law Firm of Michael S. Rothmel, LLC, recognizes that parents will sometimes place hire priority on certain issues, such as where the child will live and how they will be raised. Therefore, our attorneys take the time to not only provide detailed advice on these issues, but they also capture all issues involved when developing the best strategy for them.
Many divorcing parents in New Jersey want to understand how this process could impact where their children reside and if they will maintain the right to make decisions regarding their child and how they are raised. Thus, it is important to explore what custody arrangements are available, and what each means with regards to their parental rights.
Types of custody in New Jersey
The state of New Jersey recognizes two type of child custody. The first is residential custody, which establishes where the child will live. In some cases, one parent will have primary residential custody, allowing then to make day-to-day decisions for the child. Often, residential custody will result in a 50-50, allowing for equal physical time with each parent.
Finally, residential custody could be divided in other ways, which is often dependent on the factors in the matter and the best interest of the child. As such, it could look like one parent maintaining most of the physical time with the child, with the other parent having a specified number of days or set amount of time each month.
The second type of custody is legal custody. This refers to the decision-making authority of the parent to make major decisions affecting the child. Often, this involves decisions regarding education, religion, choice of school, involvement in extracurricular activities and medical decisions. While the law favors joint legal custody, factors specific to your matter could illustrate that sole legal custody is in the best interest of the child.
Navigating child custody matters can be an emotional and overwhelming family law issue to work through. Thus, it is important to gain a better understanding of your situation, as well as the legal options and strategize that will work most favorably in your specific matter.