Child Custody Attorney In Gilbert, AZ
There are few things more stressful than child custody battles. If you’re having it out with your soon-to-be-ex spouse about how to divide parenting time, you need an experienced Gilbert child custody lawyer on your side who can protect your parental rights and your child’s best interests. You can trust the team here at Ellsworth Family Law, P.C., to help resolve your child custody concerns. Our team includes Certified Family Law Specialists who are intimately familiar with child custody laws and how they could be applied to your case. Over more than 20 years in practice as a boutique law firm, we’ve handled a wide variety of child custody cases, including some very complicated ones. We can help you, too.
Hire a Child Custody Lawyer
Arizona’s divorce rate hovers at around 2.0 divorces per 1,000 residents, which is close to the national average. That amounts to between 40 and 60% of recent marriages and remarriages ending in divorce, many of which involve one or more children. In 2018, 40% of recently divorced people reported having at least one minor child living in the household. Those children tend to fare better when their parents go through amicable divorces.
One of the most straightforward ways to ensure that your divorce goes as smoothly as possible for your children is to hire a trusted child custody lawyer. Your expert Gilbert child custody attorney won’t just protect your parental rights, although that’s an important part of their job. They will also help to ensure that your children’s best interests are placed at the forefront of every decision.
Types of Custody in Arizona
Arizona has two different types of custody arrangements:
- Physical custody: This type of custody determines where a child lives and who provides their daily care. This parent is known as the custodial parent. Joint physical custody is common in Arizona. This arrangement ensures equal parenting time between you and your spouse. However, if your spouse is unfit to parent, you may be able to get sole physical custody of your child.
- Legal custody: Legal custody refers to the decision-making authority of a parent over a child’s life, including their education, healthcare, and religious upbringing. In many cases, parents share joint legal custody and work together to determine how the child will be raised. In others, sole legal custody gets assigned, usually to the custodial parent.
The courts determine which parent, or parents, will have each of these forms of custody over their children based on what’s in the child’s best interests.
What to Expect From Your Custody Hearing
You will attend your Gilbert child custody hearing at the Maricopa County Superior Court. Your lawyer can be present at the hearing, which provides an opportunity for a judge to assess your proposed custody arrangement or come up with one if this aspect of your divorce was contested. During the hearing, each parent presents arguments and evidence of their ability to provide a nurturing home. The judge takes into consideration a variety of factors, including:
- Parenting time
- Child support
- Domestic violence history
- The child’s physical needs
- The child’s emotional needs
- Each parent’s ability to provide a stable household
In many cases, the court issues temporary orders during child custody cases that assign parenting time schedules and child support arrangements. You should follow these orders diligently, as failing to do so could reflect poorly on you as the court gathers further information to inform its custody evaluation. When the judge has come to a decision, they will issue a custody order guided by the best interests of the child that establishes a fair and sustainable long-term custody arrangement. In most cases, the judge prioritizes fostering a meaningful relationship with both parents.
FAQs
How Much Does a Custody Lawyer Cost in Gilbert, AZ?
How much a custody lawyer in Gilbert, AZ costs will depend on the specifics of your case. In complex child custody cases, you can expect to pay higher legal fees due to the extra hours of work put in by your Gilbert child custody attorney. If your case is relatively simple and can be handled by a legal paraprofessional, you may be able to get a lower rate. You can determine what to expect by contacting a family lawyer.
What Looks Bad in a Custody Case?
Several things look bad in a custody case, but the top one is prioritizing parental conflict over a child’s best interests. This is more common than you might think. It often includes badmouthing the other parent, venting about the other parent on social media, lying to your child or the other parent, alienating your child, showing poor work or financial habits, and being inconsistent.
What Is the 80/20 Rule in Custody?
The 80/20 rule in custody refers to an arrangement where one parent maintains primary physical custody of a child, watching them for 80% of the time, while the other parent gets regular visitation and spends around 20% of the child’s time with them. This unequal split is most common when one parent is more suited to provide basic daily care but wants to allow the non-custodial parent consistent parenting time.
What Is a Judge Looking for in a Custody Case?
What a judge is looking for in a custody case is how to provide for the best interests of the child. The judge will consider factors such as each parent’s relationship with the child, ability to provide a stable home, ability to meet the child’s physical, mental, and emotional needs, and ability to provide a safe environment free from abuse, neglect, and parental alienation.
Gilbert Child Custody Lawyer
If you’re looking for a skilled and experienced Gilbert child custody lawyer, look no further than Ellsworth Family Law, P.C. Two of our three founding attorneys are currently considered Certified Family Law Specialists, and our legal team includes four legal paraprofessionals who are bar-licensed to handle certain types of cases at lower rates depending on your needs and financial situation. Contact us to schedule an initial consultation today.
Client Testimonials
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“Attorney Steve Ellsworth is THE BEST IN THE VALLEY! He really took the time to understand my custody case, made my case feel important, prioritised speaking with me though he had a very tight schedule and his knowledge of family law is incredible! He really values his clients, I don’t know what I would have done without him. His staff is very friendly and attentive as well. Ellsworth law is worth every penny and they were able to work with my budget to setup a payment plan. I MOST DEFINITELY will be using Ellsworth law for all my family law needs!”
— Alexis H.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“Had a quick question. Called other places beforehand but none were willing to assist without me going in. However the lady who answered the phone just assisted me and answered my question without even batting an eye, she even put me on hold and went and clarified with someone before giving me a for sure answer. The fact that they at least answered the question without asking for me to come in or for compensation made me extremely happy! I know this isnt a review on a law service they provided after paying, but still wanted people to know how much I appreciated the fact they did something no other law group I called would. Just answer a simple question.”
— Isaak F.
We encourage you to read our Yelp Reviews and third-party ratings. Our strong reputation reflects our commitment to personalized service and real results for every client.
Ellsworth Family Law, P.C. – Gilberty, AZ Office
1630 S Stapley Dr #200, Mesa, AZ 85204
