If your family is going through a difficult breakup, one of the most important issues that you have to deal with involves child custody and visitation. Getting the best lawyer to represent you in this matter is crucial. Many parents end up spending a lot of money and time fighting over parenting time and decision-making with their ex. This can also be emotionally taxing on children and spouses alike.
Whether you are the parent or spouse seeking custody, you need to have an experienced child custody lawyer in Phoenix AZ working with you. The right attorney can help you avoid a lot of the common problems that arise in custody cases, including unnecessary delays and costly legal battles. They can help you understand the legal requirements and procedures that apply in your case and ensure that all the necessary paperwork is filed and properly executed. A good attorney can also help you develop and support your legal arguments to get the outcome you want.
What are my options for a custody agreement?
In Arizona, parents may pursue joint legal and physical custody or sole legal and physical custody. In contested cases, the judge decides which parent or parents should have legal and physical custody of the children. The court will look at the parents’ lifestyle, stability, and ability to care for the children. It will also consider whether either parent has been abusive or abused. A judge may also grant supervised visitation or limit visiting rights based on concerns about the safety of a parent’s home or the presence of drugs or violence.
The judge will also listen to any preference expressed by the child. However, the court’s ultimate goal is to make a custody arrangement that is in the child’s best interests. In most cases, the judge will award full custody to one parent. This may be because the other parent has been abusive or has a history of domestic violence, or because it is believed that full custody would be better for the child’s emotional well-being.
A judge may also award split custody where the child lives with each parent for an equal amount of time. This can work well if the parents live in close proximity to each other. It can also work if the parents have other children that they want to share equally with each other.
If the parties cannot reach an agreement about custody and access arrangements outside of court, they must go to family court to resolve their differences. A seasoned child custody attorney can help parents come up with a plan and provide them with the necessary legal arguments to support their positions. They can also advise them on the benefits of mediation, which is often less costly and more predictable than a trial. They can also assist in enforcement of existing orders by advising clients of the proper legal options for dealing with the other parent or reporting him or her to the police if they violate the order.