The Harding Firm Specializes in Child Custody Issues in Chandler Arizona

Child Custody Issues

Ordinarily in Chandler Arizona, parents make decisions about their children together. But when parents divorce, the hostility between them sometimes causes them to disagree on what is best for the children. In addition, divorce presents a whole new set of child-rearing challenges. Even the best parents may find it helpful to consult a child development expert for help in meeting these challenges.

Issues related to children will generally present challenges for your lawyer as well. While your lawyer’s loyalty is to you, your lawyer also has an obligation as an officer of the court to keep the best interest of your children in mind, even if that interest is not consistent with yours.

Legal and Physical Custody

Physical custody is the responsibility of having the children live with you. The parent with whom the children are at the time has the responsibility for making day-to-day decisions about them. These day to day decisions include what the children eat and wear, who they play with, and when they go to bed. Legal custody is the right to make important long-term decisions affecting your children’s welfare. Long-term decisions made by the parent with legal custody may include decisions about the children’s education, religion, and non-emergency medical care.

Many variations of sharing parenting responsibilities are possible. When parents share physical or legal custody, it’s called joint legal custody or joint physical custody. Or, if one parent has all of the responsibilities, it is called sole legal custody or sole physical custody.

Joint legal custody does not necessarily mean that there is equal time-sharing of the children. And if one parent does not have primary physical custody, he or she may have visitation rights, also called access or secondary physical custody. The terminology is less important than how the arrangement works in practice.

There is no standard joint custody arrangement. Every situation is different. Some parents alternate weeks with the children, others alternate months. Others divide the children’s time unequally in a manner that meets the needs of each particular family. Parents who work out these arrangements themselves tend to be more creative than courts are when the parents are not able to agree.

Child Support

The amount of child support that you will have to pay or be entitled to receive depends on income, the custody arrangement, and other factors. The amount of child support is usually determined by guideline formulas – these are standard calculations that lawyers and the court use to figure out how much child support a parent should pay. These formulas make the amount of support more predictable, but also more rigid.

Your Conduct With Your Children

The behavior of parents before and after divorce has a great influence on the emotional adjustment of their children. The following guidelines may be helpful:

1. Put your children’s welfare first. Never use your children as a weapon against your spouse.
2. Be sure your children have ample time with the other parent. They need it.
3. Visitation should usually not take place in the children’s home.
4. Don’t introduce your children to your new romantic interest until the children have adjusted to your separation and your new relationship is stable.
5. Don’t bring your children to court or to your lawyer’s office.
6. Keep to the schedule. Give the other parent and the children as much notice as you can when you will not be able to keep to the schedule. Be considerate.
7. Be flexible. You may both need to adjust the schedule from time to time.
8. Giving of yourself is more important than giving material things. Feverish rounds of holiday type activities during every visitation period or lavish gifts may be viewed as a crude effort to purchase affection and is not good for the children.
9. Do not use your children as spies to report to you about the other parent.
10. Do not use the children as couriers to deliver messages, money, or information.
11. Try to agree on decisions about the children, especially matters of discipline, so that one parent is not undermining the other parent’s efforts.
12. Avoid arguments or confrontations while dropping off or picking up the children and at other times when your children are present.
13. Don’t listen in on your children’s phone calls with the other parent.
14. Maintain your composure. Try to keep a sense of humor. Remember that your children’s behavior is affected by your attitude and conduct.
15. Assure your children they are not to blame for the breakup and are not being rejected or abandoned by either parent.
16. Don’t criticize the other parent in front of your children. Your children need to respect both parents.
17. Do not let guilt you may feel about the marriage breakdown interfere with the discipline of your children. Parents must be ready to say “No” when necessary.
18. You are only human. You cannot be a perfect parent. When you make a mistake, acknowledge it and try to do better next time.

Learn More About Divorce in Arizona

Get more legal information about your child custody issues by scheduling a free consultation with The Harding Firm. Or read Arizona’s laws about the divorce process in Title 25 of the Arizona Revised Statutes. You can also find some forms and information on the Arizona Judicial Branch’s Self-Service Center. To schedule a free consultation with a child custody specialist call (480) 442-4241.