If you are navigating through a child custody dispute in New York, chances are that it has become obvious how difficult these situations can sometimes be to conclude. The concept of the custody of a child involves so many different aspects that any single issue may hold up the final arrangements being decided. This can be true whether the parents of the child in question are going through a divorce or were never married.
Determining child custody
There are various aspects of child custody that can come into consideration when a court is forced to make a decision. First and foremost, there are both the legal and physical aspects of custody to consider. Legal custody refers to which parent gets to make the important decisions about the child’s life, such as where the child will go to school or church, what type of medical care the child will receive or even what extracurricular activities the child will participate in.
Physical custody refers to where the child will live most of the time. For both of these aspects of custody, courts typically prefer joint custody if possible – meaning that the parents share child custody.
Of course, in order to make determinations about legal and physical custody, the specific dynamics of the family in question will need to be considered. Where do each of the parents live? Is there any history of abuse or drug use? What is the relationship like between the child and each parent? Are there any factors that might impact a parent’s ability to care for the child?
These questions, among many others, will be considered when a court needs to make child custody decisions.
If possible, the parents could always come to their own agreement about child custody arrangements. Courts much prefer to see parents who are able to work together and put the best interests of the child first.