Most of the time, child support is easy peasy. It’s based on a formula, so, basically, we just fill in the blanks and the number pops up. Of course, if yours is a shared custody situation, it can be a little more complicated than in a traditional primary physical custody type situation. How so? Well,...
Child
In most states, custody decisions are made in court based on the “best interests of the child.” It’s a pretty general phrase that can mean all sorts of things. In fact, most courts have a different definition of what, exactly, qualifies as being in the best interests of a child. If you’re facing a custody...
Just because you don’t have a blood relationship to a child doesn’t mean that you don’t feel compelled to stay involved in a child’s life once you’ve already begun. You can have a relationship with a child for about a million different reasons, aside from any kind of familial ties you might have and, when...
If you’re a mom and someone else, like your parents or your child’s father’s parents, are petitioning the court to get custody or visitation from you, you’re probably scared and upset. After all, don’t you have a right to make decisions about who your children should and shouldn’t be around? Aren’t you right to consider...
If you’re a grandparent and you’re seeking custody or visitation rights for your grandchild(ren), you’re not alone. Even though in many parents the grandparents work alongside the parents, providing extra help in the home, acting as stand-in nanny, and shuttling the kids to and from school, daycare, and their various activities, it’s not always that...
When a couple has a child together, there is no custody order. There’s no “every other weekend” rule, even if mom and dad are no longer romantically involved. Married or single, it doesn’t make any difference. Babies aren’t born with rules about custody in place. Furthermore, babies are born to two parents, each of whom...
No matter how old they are, your babies are still your babies – and a custody case is still scary. Still, a custody case where older children (say, 13-14 and older or so) are involved is considerably different than a case where young kids are involved. For older children and teenagers, the school calendar has...
Understanding custody cases has a lot to do with understanding the vocabulary of custody cases. It’s not very complicated, but learning about custody vocabulary does require a little bit of background information before you can quickly and easily understand exactly what’s happening in your case—or what you’re even asking for! Most people talk about custody...