Fairfax County Child Custody Attorneys
Every divorce has specific elements involved. If you are divorcing with children, you will need to deal with elements such as child custody. As a parent, it is important that you exercise your legal rights. It is also important that the best interests of the child are kept in mind as well.
Virginia recognizes two main types of child custody: legal custody and physical custody. The experienced Fairfax County child custody lawyers at Virginia Family Law Center can advise you of your legal rights and help you make the right decisions.
Legal Custody
Legal custody refers to the ability to make important decisions for your child. There can be sole custody, which means that just one parent takes on the responsibility, or there can be joint custody, in which both parents share the responsibility.
Legal custody means making decisions for your child about topics such as education, medical needs, health care, religion, and extracurricular activities. The parent also handles decisions regarding the child’s daily living, such as food, shelter, and clothing.
Physical Custody
Physical custody refers to the child’s visitation schedule with each parent. Physical custody can also be either sole or joint, but sole custody is rare. The court maintains that, in regard to the best interests of the child, the child should be able to have regular contact with both parents unless there is a compelling reason to deny a parent the right to visitation with their child.
In some cases, the child will spend most of their time with one parent. However, you can also split your time equally (or nearly equally) if you and the other parent can come to an agreement.
Best Interests of the Child
Under Code of Virginia § 20-124.2, the court gives primary consideration to the best interests of the child. This often means allowing the child to have frequent contact with both parents, if appropriate. While the focus is on the parent-child relationship, it’s possible that the best interest of the child would be served by awarding child custody or visitation to any other person with a legitimate interest (such as grandparents) if the court has clear and convincing evidence. Working with knowledgeable Fairfax County child custody attorneys can help you present a strong case for such an arrangement if necessary.
Code of Virginia § 20-124.3 lays out the factors that determine the best interests of the child. They include:
- The physical and mental health of the child and the parents
- The relationship between the child and the parents
- The needs of the child
- The role each parent has played in the past in regard to the care and upbringing of the child
- The ability of each parent to support the child’s relationship with the other parents
- The preference of the child (if old/mature enough)
- Any history of domestic violence or child abuse
