Custody & Parenting Time
Despite parents’ best efforts, emotions may run high where children are involved, and custody and parenting time issues can sometimes become fraught and contentious. For the sake of children’s long-term psychological and emotional health, it is essential to remain as calm and civil as possible with your child’s other parent.
My goal is to assist and encourage you and your child’s other parent to work together to resolve custody issues, and to develop a parenting plan that works best for each of you and for your children. The hope is always that this will be a team effort between you and your child’s other parent. If cooperative teamwork is not possible however, or if abuse by one parent of the other, or of the children is involved, then I will work diligently to help ensure that your and your children’s health, safety, and welfare are protected.
There are many resources available to guide parents through custody and parenting time disputes. A skilled mediator can provide invaluable assistance, as can a parenting coordinator or custody evaluator. Asking the court to appoint an attorney to represent your child is also an option if a peaceful and civil resolution to custody and parenting time matters is not possible.
LEGAL Custody
Legal custody may be awarded to either parent, or may be awarded to both parents jointly. If only one parent is awarded legal custody, that parent will have final authority to decide where the children will attend school, and who the children’s health care practitioners will be. Contrary to popular belief however, the non-legal custodial parent continues to retain the same legal rights to and obligations for the children as the custodial parent. In that sense, an award of legal custody should not be considered as a “win” by one parent over the other. Legal custodial parents are not only prohibited from interfering with the child’s relationship with the non-custodial parent, but are in fact expected to support and encourage the child’s relationship with the non-custodial parent.
Oregon courts will not award joint legal custody unless both parents agree to it. If the parents do not agree to share joint legal custody of the children, the court must award sole legal custody to one or the other parent. Some of the factors that the court will look at to determine an award of sole legal custody are based on the following:
Which parent is and has been the child’s primary caregiver? And is that parent fit to now be awarded sole legal custody?
What is and has been each parent’s interest in and attitude towards the child?
Is there a history of abuse or neglect that the child may have suffered from one or both parents?
How willing is each parent to encourage and support a healthy relationship between the child and the other parent?
What is the emotional connection between the child and other family members?
PARenting time
Parenting time is the actual physical time that a child spends with each parent, regardless of whether one parent has sole legal custody, or whether the parents have agreed to shared joint legal custody. If the parents cannot agree on a parenting time schedule, then Oregon courts will decide what is best for the child based on the following:
The child’s age.
The child’s emotional and psychological development.
The current and past history of caregiving provided to the child by each parent.
All filed custody or divorce judgments in Oregon require that a parenting plan be included, either as part of the judgment itself, or as a separate exhibit to the judgment.
A good parenting plan should be centered on the needs of your children, and should also take the family’s lifestyle into account. Such parenting plans typically include a “routine” school-year weekly or bi-weekly schedule for each parent with the child, as well as a schedule for Summers, holidays, and scheduled school breaks. A parenting plan should also address other details, such as when and where the children will be transported and exchanged by the parents, how the parents will communicate with the children and with each other, and any other issues that you and your child’s other parent think are important for your family.
A well-crafted parenting plan allows both parents to provide support and stability for their children, as well as minimize conflict with each other. I can help you create a parenting plan that works for your family, and that helps prevents potential conflicts from becoming full-blown battles.
You can find more information on custody and parenting plans here.