Child Custody FAQs

If you are facing a divorce involving children – or otherwise have a child custody concern – you very likely have questions about child custody. While your claim will be specific to your situation and the circumstances involved, the answers to some of the questions parents ask most frequently can help. One of the most important things you can do if you have child custody concerns is to work closely with an experienced Ohio child custody attorney.

What Is the Difference between Legal and Physical Custody?

Many people are confused about the difference between legal and physical custody, but the distinction is fairly simple. Legal custody has to do with who will be making important decisions on behalf of your children, including decisions about the following:

• Their education
• Their extracurriculars 
• Their health care
• Their religious upbringing

You and your ex can make these decisions together, one of you can make them on your own, or you can split legal custody according to who makes decisions in which categories. 

Physical custody has to do with how you and your ex split your time with your children. Often, one parent becomes the primary custodial parent with whom the children live primarily, while the other parent has a visitation schedule. Some parents, however, split their parenting time equally. Only if there is a compelling reason for doing so will a parent be denied at least some visitation with his or her children. 

Can We Keep the Court out of the Decision-Making Process?

Custody decisions are so elemental to your parental rights that it is only natural to want to keep the decision-making power between yourselves. This is your prerogative, and as long as you and your divorcing spouse are committed to negotiating terms that you are both willing to sign off on, the court will almost certainly accept them. While such negotiations tend to be difficult, many parents are highly motivated to keep the matter out of court. 

What Does the Court Base its Child Custody Decisions on?

When it comes to matters involving children, the court always bases its decisions on the best interests of those children, and toward this end, it takes wide-ranging factors into consideration, including:

• Each child’s unique relationship with each parent
• Each child’s current situation, including at school, and what divorce-related impending changes could mean for each child
• Each parent’s mental and physical health and how well-suited each is to care for the children
• Any criminal record that either parent has
• Each child’s personal preferences on the matter – if he or she is old enough and mature enough to weigh in 

Turn to an Experienced Ohio Child Custody Attorney Today

Child custody concerns are serious concerns, and the focused Ohio child custody attorneys at The VanNoy Firm are committed to employing the full scope of their impressive experience in pursuit of terms that uphold your parental rights and work for you and your children. To learn more about how we can help, please don’t hesitate to contact us today.