A child in Arizona can never decide which parent a child wants to live with. A child’s wishes are always, always a factor and never dispositive. The child is the child. The parent makes the decisions. For more information, call me, Greg Davis at Davis Limited, (602) 279-1900.
By: Greg Davis
A child in Arizona can never decide which parent a child wants to live with. A child’s wishes are always, always a factor and never dispositive. The child is the child. The parent makes the decisions. For more information, call me, Greg Davis at Davis Limited, (602) 279-1900.
By: Greg Davis
I want to speak to you today about the different forms of legal custody of a child in the state of Arizona. When we talk about custody, we are really talking about two different aspects of custody as it relates to children.
The first of which is, how much time the child or children spend in the each parent’s home. We refer to that as physical custody.
But, the other aspect of custody has to do with who gets to make the major decisions affecting the child. For example, the decisions regarding education, such as where the child goes to school, medical decisions, the children’s participation in extracurricular activities and even the child’s religious upbringing.
If a parent has sole legal custody, that parent gets to make all those decisions irrespective of the wishes of the other parent. If the parents share joint legal custody however, both parents must agree regarding those decisions for the child. If you have any other questions regarding custody or parenting time in the state of Arizona, please feel free to contact me.
By: Chris Hildebrand
I want to speak to you today about the different forms of legal custody of a child in the state of Arizona. When we talk about custody, we are really talking about two different aspects of custody as it relates to children.
The first of which is, how much time the child or children spend in the each parent’s home. We refer to that as physical custody.
But, the other aspect of custody has to do with who gets to make the major decisions affecting the child. For example, the decisions regarding education, such as where the child goes to school, medical decisions, the children’s participation in extracurricular activities and even the child’s religious upbringing.
If a parent has sole legal custody, that parent gets to make all those decisions irrespective of the wishes of the other parent. If the parents share joint legal custody however, both parents must agree regarding those decisions for the child. If you have any other questions regarding custody or parenting time in the state of Arizona, please feel free to contact me.
By: Chris Hildebrand
In Arizona, child custody is now called legal decision-making. The law establishes a preference for joint legal decision-making, and a parent seeking sole legal decision-making will have the burden to prove to the court why such an order is in the best interest of the minor children. Some acceptable reasons might include drug or alcohol abuse, sexual abuse, physical abuse or mental illness.
In making it’s order, the court is required to consider all information that is relevant to the children’s best interest and in particular, the eleven statutory factors. I won’t describe all of those factors here, but they include the past, present and potential future relationship between the parent and the children; the children’s relationship with family members and their adjustment to home, school and community; the mental and physical health of the parents and the children; and if the children are of suitable age and maturity, the wishes of the children.
On this last point, there is no specific age at which a child gets to choose where to live. As the child gets closer to age 18, his or her wishes will carry more weight with the court. Typically, courts start giving significant weight to the child’s wishes around age 12 or 13. If you have more questions concerning legal decision-making or parenting time, please contact me.
In Arizona, child custody is now called legal decision-making. The law establishes a preference for joint legal decision-making, and a parent seeking sole legal decision-making will have the burden to prove to the court why such an order is in the best interest of the minor children. Some acceptable reasons might include drug or alcohol abuse, sexual abuse, physical abuse or mental illness.
In making it’s order, the court is required to consider all information that is relevant to the children’s best interest and in particular, the eleven statutory factors. I won’t describe all of those factors here, but they include the past, present and potential future relationship between the parent and the children; the children’s relationship with family members and their adjustment to home, school and community; the mental and physical health of the parents and the children; and if the children are of suitable age and maturity, the wishes of the children.
On this last point, there is no specific age at which a child gets to choose where to live. As the child gets closer to age 18, his or her wishes will carry more weight with the court. Typically, courts start giving significant weight to the child’s wishes around age 12 or 13. If you have more questions concerning legal decision-making or parenting time, please contact me.
A parenting plan is a court order that tells parents how they need to behave and act around their children. More importantly, it tells the parents when they actually get to see their children. It may include other things like holiday schedule, vacation schedule. It may also have mandated portions regarding unreimbursed medical expenses and child support. Each case is so different and that’s why here at Hildebrand Law, we try to treat each case with uniqueness. And so, if you’d like to discuss this more or decide whether we could help you with your parenting plan needs, please give me a call at (480) 305-8300.
A parenting plan is a court order that tells parents how they need to behave and act around their children. More importantly, it tells the parents when they actually get to see their children. It may include other things like holiday schedule, vacation schedule. It may also have mandated portions regarding unreimbursed medical expenses and child support. Each case is so different and that’s why here at Hildebrand Law, we try to treat each case with uniqueness. And so, if you’d like to discuss this more or decide whether we could help you with your parenting plan needs, please give me a call at (480) 305-8300.
Hi. My name is Larry Hirsch, and I practice exclusively in the domestic relations group at Jaburg & Wilk. Parenting coordinators are appointed by the court, and the main thing that they do is help parents make decisions when the parents can’t agree. Look, the parties are getting divorced. Clearly they’re not seeing eye to eye on everything, and more often than not they don’t see eye to eye on parental decisions, nor can they make even the most simplistic agreements on their own. And so a lot of times somebody needs some help, and that’s where parenting coordinators come into play.
Parenting coordinators are often either other family lawyers who are well-versed in custodial litigation, or they’re mental health professionals or medical doctors.
What kinds of issues are appropriate for what we call a PC to oversee? They’re issues like school, vacations, the change of a parenting day, the right of first refusal, babysitters, caregivers, even medical arrangements, medical decisions, which doctors they’re going to see. In other words, these are often things that people shouldn’t be litigating about. They shouldn’t be spending $10,000 on the issue of should I be picking up the kid at 3:15 on Thursday or 3 o’clock on Thursday? So that’s where parenting coordinators come into play – highly beneficial for the parties, saves a ton of money, also helps everybody’s mental health because things are handled quickly by the parenting coordinator.
Now, what are parenting coordinators not for? The main thing that a parenting coordinator is not for is making decisions with regard to decision-making authority or custody. In other words, if you are already divorced and you want to change your custodial access schedule – let’s say it’s week on/week off – and you don’t think father should be seeing the children that much any longer, the parenting coordinator is not the right person to go to for that. Unfortunately, the court is.
By: Laurence Hirsch
Hi. My name is Larry Hirsch, and I practice exclusively in the domestic relations group at Jaburg & Wilk. Parenting coordinators are appointed by the court, and the main thing that they do is help parents make decisions when the parents can’t agree. Look, the parties are getting divorced. Clearly they’re not seeing eye to eye on everything, and more often than not they don’t see eye to eye on parental decisions, nor can they make even the most simplistic agreements on their own. And so a lot of times somebody needs some help, and that’s where parenting coordinators come into play.
Parenting coordinators are often either other family lawyers who are well-versed in custodial litigation, or they’re mental health professionals or medical doctors.
What kinds of issues are appropriate for what we call a PC to oversee? They’re issues like school, vacations, the change of a parenting day, the right of first refusal, babysitters, caregivers, even medical arrangements, medical decisions, which doctors they’re going to see. In other words, these are often things that people shouldn’t be litigating about. They shouldn’t be spending $10,000 on the issue of should I be picking up the kid at 3:15 on Thursday or 3 o’clock on Thursday? So that’s where parenting coordinators come into play – highly beneficial for the parties, saves a ton of money, also helps everybody’s mental health because things are handled quickly by the parenting coordinator.
Now, what are parenting coordinators not for? The main thing that a parenting coordinator is not for is making decisions with regard to decision-making authority or custody. In other words, if you are already divorced and you want to change your custodial access schedule – let’s say it’s week on/week off – and you don’t think father should be seeing the children that much any longer, the parenting coordinator is not the right person to go to for that. Unfortunately, the court is.
By: Laurence Hirsch
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