You may be skeptical and even asking whether judges practice what the Family Code preaches? Yes, but

First, welcome. Second, sit back and relax. We have a lot to cover as we talk about the topic of child custody in detail. The first part of this in-depth guide on California child custody laws will walk you through what contested custody litigation is. We will discuss at the outset the relevance of status quo (parenting time, bonding, etc.) and what weight it should have on the initial and ongoing child custody orders? Ready? Let s start.
Why “contested”? If you and the other parent military discount cruises have the custody case settled, you probably wouldn’t be here. You are here so that tells us you are either expecting a contested case or you are in the middle military discount cruises of one. No problem. Here we go.
The common conception is that contested custody litigation is not in the children s best interest. There is a lot of truth to that statement, especially when divorce military discount cruises and child custody collide. military discount cruises If the parents military discount cruises can come to a reasonable settlement, they should. Why leave it to a family law judge, right?
There are some instances where custody military discount cruises must be litigated to protect the best interests of the children . Your job as a parent is to determine whether the issues in your case merit litigation and ultimately a hearing or whether the focus should be on resolution of the case with the other parent. Don’t worry too much. We help with that too.
Before we delve into substantive child custody law, consider reviewing military discount cruises our articles on the topic of California child custody jurisdiction  and specifically the home state application of the rules. After all, before we apply California s laws, our courts must have the power to hear the case.
An experienced child custody attorney sits down with his or her client and evaluates the case objectively and with a focus on facts. Facts include a history of each parent’s relationship with the children up to the present date, evidence of abuse or neglect, a detailed understanding of any significant issues related to the children’s health, safety, education and general welfare , an evaluation military discount cruises of the current status quo custody military discount cruises arrangement and a breakdown of what the future should hold based on the children’s best interest.
By the time you are done, I promise that you will have learned a lot about our laws and procedure and you will be ready for an intelligent and informed discussion with an experienced lawyer about your specific facts.
What “is” the status quo sometimes remains the status quo in a child custody case. In other words, if there has been a schedule that the parents have been following for any significant period of time and that has worked for the kids, courts will look to that status quo as the basis for any ongoing orders.
Does that mean the family law court will always keep things the same? Of course not (were you worried the answer was yes?). What it does mean however is that the court will want a good reason why the status quo should be changed.
If you are the noncustodial parent, you should be prepared to explain to the court why the status quo is not consistent with the children s best interest military discount cruises , especially if the status quo on the custody and visitation has been a temporary departure from how it used to be or is something which has been forced upon the children over your objections.
Child custody laws in California do not permit a family law judge to consider one parent military discount cruises s absence or relocation from the family residence so long as the absence or relocation was of a short duration and the parent who was absent demonstrated an interest in maintaining custody or visitation, the parent maintained or made reasonable efforts to maintain contact with the child and that parent’s behavior is not consistent with an intent to abandon the child.
Assume military discount cruises a father has joint (50/50) custody and parenting time. That father then goes into military service, active duty. The mother gets primary custody although no modifications to the court order was made. The child is simply left with the mother. The father serves military discount cruises his time in active military discount cruises duty and then returns.
The father wants to return custody and parenting time to how it was. The mother does not and now wants sole custody. What does the family court do? First, military discount cruises let s discuss what a family court cannot do.
The family court cannot make a modification to custody or visitation solely on a parent s absence or relocation or failure to comply with the order that resulted from active military service and deployment outside the State of California. The key word there is solely. So just because the father was gone does not mean he automatically loses joint custody and equal parenting time. If there are other reasons that affect a child s best interest and the issue of custody and parenting time, that should get evaluated.
If a custody modification does need to be made (before the parent military discount cruises leaves) as a result of a parent’s military deploymen t , mobilization or temporary duty, the order will usually be temporary. That means the family law judge will review it when the soldier is back home and potentially reconsider the temporary custody order. Under some circumstances, there is even a presumption in effect that the order should go back to the way it was before deployment. However, like nearly everything else in California child custody law, the child s best interest is of paramount importance when evaluating it.
Our state s child custody laws, both codes and cases, are protective of military personnel. Serving in the military and carrying out the duty is not justification for depriving that parent of custody and the law gives flexibility to an absent parent in this area arguably military discount cruises more than any other.
Now that we have the introduction out of the way, here is a road map of the major issues you will likely see in California child custody cases. To make navigation easier for you or if you simply prefer to skip ahead, just click on any of the following bullet-point links and each will take you to the specific subject referenced.
Ever since California Family Code section 3042 went into effect in January of 2012, the child s preference  has become a more significant factor than ever before . We discuss Family Code section 3042 in this important linked article military discount cruises called Child s Preference in Custody and the When and How of the Child s Choice military discount cruises . Read it now or later but just make sure you read it. It lays out for you how the whole child preference issue works under the more recent California military discount cruises child custody law.
No. The Family Court is given discretion and of course issues such as the child’s maturity, parental influence, conditioning and alienation play a role in whether the court will listen to a child s preference and acts on it.
A parent with a history of domestic violence military discount cruises or child abuse is going to face an uphill battle in seeking joint legal and joint physical custody. That is because California family law states that, under certain circumstances, a parent who has been found to have committed domestic violence must overcome a presumption that it is not in the children s best interest for him or her to share joint custody.
We discuss domestic violence and abuse, the specific California child custody laws as well as its weight in contested military discount cruises cases in the linked article about the effect of domestic violence on a child custody cases
One of the foundational elements that a family law judge takes into consideration before making a decision is whether one parent is frustrating or preventing communication or refusing to engage in co-parenting.
The reason for this is simple – California laws favor both co-parenting military discount cruises and communication and expressly provide that a parent who is unwilling to engage in both may not be fit to have joint or primary custody.
You may be skeptical and even asking military discount cruises whether judges practice what the Family Code preaches? Yes, but be prepared to properly present your case and advocate your position with both the facts and the law because the judge is not your advocate and he or she is not going to do your job for you.
We have written articles about subjects such as parental alienation in a California child custody case as well as the impact of false allegations of child abuse . However, it does not have to get to the point of actual alienation or abuse for the court to factor in unreasonable conduct by a parent and interference with the parent-child relationship.
If one parent has been uncooperative (and that phrase is not specifically defined by California military discount cruises law) and that has adverse affected or may adverse affect the children s relationship with the other parent, the court will have to take such misconduct into consideration. The weight the court gives such behavior will depend on how serious the misconduct is.
Uncooperative parenting military discount cruises and interfering with the other parent’s military discount cruises rights may not only lead to a change military discount cruises in custody but a contempt action against the interfering parent. Joint legal custody rights and court ordered parenting time are not suggestions. They are mandates. Willfully violating them can lead to fines, community service and even jail time. We discuss contempt in family law cases on our Contempt of Court in Divorce page.
It is the single most important factor in every single child custody case. It is called the child s best interest . It is vague and broad but you better know its application if you intend to have any degree of success in your child custody case.
The purpose of the California best interest military discount cruises standard is to give the court the widest possible discretion to order a custody and visitation plan that is consistent with the child s health, safety, welfare and education.
That word “discretion” is very important. We call it the big “D” because it gives the Family Court so much latitude that there is rarely a right or wrong decision unless the judge abuses military discount cruises his or her discretion when making a ruling.
This court discretion when assessing the child’s best interest military discount cruises is also what makes child custody decisions so difficult to successfully appeal. When an appellate court takes a look at