Child Custody Attorney In Mesa, AZ
Child custody cases may be necessary in a divorce, legal separation, paternity case, or other situations. Every custody determination is different, and the court takes many factors into account when determining the right custody arrangement for a child. When you are navigating a custody case, whether you and your co-parent are amicable or not, the support of a Mesa child custody lawyer is crucial. They can protect your child’s interests and work with your family’s needs.
There are several elements to a custody determination, whether parents create an agreement together or turn to the court for a decision. These include legal decision-making and parenting time. There is also the need to create a parenting plan. Navigating these legal processes is much easier with a dedicated and compassionate attorney providing you with personalized legal advice about your situation.
Ellsworth Family Law, P.C.: Providing Focused Legal Support for Your Child’s Interests
The attorneys at Ellsworth Family Law, P.C., know that every family’s situation is unique, and the legal representation we provide can be tailored to your specific situation and wishes. A child custody case can have a significant effect on your future, and our firm knows the gravity of this for your family. We have supported clients in our community with their family law cases for the past 20 years.
Our team consists of two Certified Family Law Specialists, making us uniquely qualified to help with your case. Our legal team is made up of three experienced and dedicated attorneys, two paralegals, and two legal paraprofessionals. We have experience in the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, so we know how it affects custody arrangements in Mesa.
With 23% of Mesa’s population being under 18, the city sees many custody issues. When you bring your case to us, we can provide you with straightforward and compassionate legal support.
The Maricopa County Superior Court has a Family Department for resolving family law cases. It is located in the Southeast Justice Center on 222 East Javelina Avenue.
What Is Legal Decision-Making?
Legal decision-making, also called legal custody, is the right and ability of a parent or guardian to make important and non-emergency decisions for their child. These include:
- Where or how they receive their education
- Their healthcare
- Their religious upbringing
- Their personal care decisions
This type of custody can be joint or sole. Joint legal decision-making means both parents share the ability to make these choices, and each has equal rights in that responsibility. Sole decision-making occurs when the court gives only one parent this right. However, that does not give them control over the parenting plan or in modifying parenting time.
What Is Parenting Time?
Parenting time is the schedule that outlines how much time a child spends with each parent. When a parent has care of a child for their scheduled parenting time, they are responsible for their child’s basic needs, including food, clothing, shelter, and routine care. How parenting time is arranged depends on several factors, including whether parents are considered to be fit to care for their children’s basic needs.
How Does the Court Determine the Child’s Interests?
All child custody decisions are made based on the child’s interests, such as the child’s emotional and physical health. The court reviews several factors when creating or modifying an order for parenting time or legal decision-making, including:
- The existing, past, and likely future relationship between each parent and their child
- Relationships between the child and their parents, siblings, and other significant people in their life
- How the child has adjusted to their current community, school, and home
- The child’s preferences for parenting time and legal decision-making, especially if the court believes them to have sufficient age and maturity
- The mental and physical well-being of the child, parents, and others involved
- The likelihood of either parent to allow the child to spend meaningful and frequent time with the other parent, except in cases where a parent is preventing this contact to protect a child from witnessing or being a victim of domestic violence, and this is in good faith
- Whether either parent purposefully lied to the court to lengthen the time the case took, make the litigation cost more, or try to secure preference in the custody case
- The existence of any domestic violence or child abuse
- Whether there was any coercion or duress used by one parent to secure a custody agreement decision, and the type and severity of that coercion or duress
- The compliance of parents with the Domestic Relationship Education on Children’s Issues program
- If either parent was convicted of falsely reporting child abuse or neglect
These factors are considered by the court, whether the parents reach their own agreement about parenting time and legal decision-making or not. However, if custody is contested, then the court must also record their findings on the case and explain why the final decision was in the child’s best interests.
When Does the Court Decide Joint or Sole Custody?
Parents can reach an agreement out of court about legal decision-making and parenting time, and the court will review it to see if it is in the child’s best interests. Of course, not all parents can work together on a plan. When the court decides on sole or joint legal decision-making, it considers all the prior factors about the child’s best interests, along with the following:
- Whether the parents reached an agreement about joint legal decision-making
- If the parents’ inability to reach an agreement is unreasonable or was impacted by something that does not affect the child’s interests
- Whether parents have been able to cooperate on making decisions for their child in the past, present, and expected future
- If that cooperation is enough to allow for joint legal decision-making custody
- If joint legal custody is possible in the family’s circumstances
If one parent does not get sole or joint legal custody, then they are entitled to reasonable parenting time, except in cases where it would endanger the child. The court considers the endangerment of a child to include risks to their mental, physical, emotional, or moral health. Even when parents have joint legal decision-making, it doesn’t guarantee they will get equal parenting time.
What Is Visitation?
Visitation is the scheduled time that a child spends with someone who is not their legal parent. Their legal parent can be a biological or adoptive parent who still has parental rights. Visitation rights may be provided to:
- Grandparents
- Other relatives
- Important people in a child’s life
Understanding a Parenting Plan
Parenting plans outline the logistics of legal decision-making and parenting time. A parenting plan must, at minimum, include the following:
- Designating sole or joint legal decision-making
- The rights and abilities of each parent to make important decisions and provide personal care for their child
- An outlined and viable schedule for parenting time, also addressing holidays and vacations from school
- The logistics of pick-ups and drop-offs of their child, including the method of transportation and the location
- How to address modifications, relocation, disputes, or breaches of the plan out of court
- How and when to regularly review the parenting plan’s terms
- How parents communicate about their child, including the method they communicate with and how often
- A statement from each parent that they read, understood, and will comply with the requirements to notify the other parent about any potential risk to a child from a registered sex offender
Ideally, parents create these plans together. This makes the plan more likely to adhere to the family’s unique needs, and it can be a good foundation for a co-parenting relationship. However, it is not always possible for parents to create these plans together. When parents can’t reach an agreement, each parent submits their own proposed parenting plan to the court.
The goal of the court is to:
- Consider the child’s best interests.
- Create a parenting plan that provides shared legal decision-making.
- Maximize the time each parent gets to spend with their child.
The court considers any relevant factors when protecting a child’s health and well-being.
How Is Custody Modified?
Custody can be modified when it no longer serves the child’s interests, but specific requirements must first be met. Changing custody too often can be unstable for a child, so the court limits how often modifications can be made for legal decision-making or parenting time. For most modifications, you need to wait one year from the date the order was made or last modified.
However, there are exceptions. One occurs if a parent believes that the child is seriously endangered, including harm to their mental, moral, physical, or emotional health. That parent can file an affidavit about this with the court, which may permit a modification based on this information.
Another exception happens when there is evidence of domestic violence. Modifications can be made to joint legal decision-making at any time when this is the case.
The court also allows an exception if one parent in the joint legal decision-making order has failed to follow the custody order. Modifications can be made six months after the order is made in that case.
Get in Touch With Ellsworth Family Law, P.C., in Mesa
Custody determinations can be exceptionally stressful and emotional cases. Getting experienced legal support can help you reach a beneficial solution, whether you are in a custody battle or creating a parenting plan alongside your co-parent. Contact our firm today, and let us help you.
