Are you a parent that is facing a child full legal custody or parental visitation case? If so, it is essential to understand the three parenting factors that will impact your child custody and visitation.
There are two common paths that child full legal custody and parental visitation cases follow. The first path involves parents that civilly agree on custody and visitation. This path involves parents reaching a child legal custody agreement without court. Unfortunately, not all co-parenting relationships are civil. Consequently, some parents are forced to travel down a separate path.
The second path involves court-involvement and litigation. You see, parents that cannot amicably decide child full legal custody and parental visitation place the issues into a judge’s hands. In doing so, the judge has immense power to determine the appropriate child full custody and parental visitation schedule. Therefore, it is essential to know the three parenting factors that judges consider and balance when deciding child legal custody and parental visitation.
PARENTING ABILITY
Parenting ability is a major factor that impacts child full legal custody and parental visitation. In this respect, your judge wants to know that you can acknowledge and meet your child’s needs. For instance, does your child have the following needs:
- Special or individualized needs?
- Educational needs?
- Delayed developmental progress?
If so, are you equipped to meet your child’s needs? Moreover, are you involved with your child’s special providers? If not, your judge is going to have concerns that can negatively impact your parental visitation schedule.
Additionally, your judge wants to see that you can provide for your child’s needs. For instance, are you able to provide child-sensitive and child-focused parenting? If not, you need to look in the mirror and examine why.
Finally, your judge wants to know that you can adjust your parenting as your child grows and develops. In this regard, your judge wants to see you and your child co-evolve through different developmental stages.
For example, judges want to see the parent/child relationship grow and strengthen over time. As judges see it, children thrive when parent and child both evolve and separate. Mutual evolution and progressive separation help children appropriately transition into adulthood. In turn, a child’s self-esteem and independence flourishes from this mutual growth and separation.
From a judge’s perspective, failing to grow and separate often leads to parentification or enmeshed parenting. In other words, judges are concerned by a parent’s inability to appropriately separate from a child. This separation enables the child to independently grow and develop.
PARENTAL SAFETY FACTORS
Parental safety factors heavily influence child full custody and parental visitation.
For instance, judges are especially concerned if domestic violence or abuse was present in the relationship. Specifically, domestic violence or family violence is a factor that can negatively impact parental visitation. Additionally, your judge’s concerns will be magnified when domestic violence leads to parental conflict.
Did your child witness domestic abuse? Also, was your child the victim of family abuse/violence? Either scenario will increase your judge’s overall concern. In turn, this concern can negatively impact your child visitation.
Finally, domestic violence often leads to an order of protection being entered. When children are involved, an order of protection often grants one parent sole legal custody. Moving forward, the order of protection can haunt your future parental visitation.
Other safety factors include:
- Substance abuse;
- Mental health issues;
- Child abuse or neglect; or
- Current criminal involvement or cases.
Your judge’s concern grows when additional safety issues are thrown into the mix. In other words, combining domestic violence with substance abuse leads to an increased concern. As a result, this increased concern often hurts visitation.
Regarding substance abuse, your judge will be highly concerned if substance abuse significantly impairs either parent’s ability to care for your child. Similarly, mental heath issues are especially concerning when they impair a parent’s ability to meet parental responsibilities.
Do any of these safety factors apply to you or your case? If so, it is essential for you to immediately take proactive steps to address the underlying safety issue.
PARENTAL WORK SCHEDULE
A parent’s work schedule is the third factor that impacts child full custody and parental visitation. In short, you cannot care for your child while you are at work.
Your work schedule impacts your availability. In turn, your availability impacts your visitation. For instance, a parent that works a grave-yard shift may not be equipped to care for a school aged child. Additionally, your judge will be concerned with especially long, or unusual work hours.
Finally, military service often impacts a parent’s availability.
BEST CHILD LEGAL CUSTODY LAWYERS OR ATTORNEYS IN ALBUQUERQUE
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For more than a decade, Sanchez has handled child custody all across New Mexico, including: Rio Rancho, Santa Fe, Los Lunas/Belen, Gallup/Grants, Estancia/Socorro, and Taos. Talk to to the best child custody attorney or lawyer in Albuquerque. Talk to (505) SANCHEZ.
