Child Custody Laws

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Child custody laws are central to the outcome of divorce proceedings when children are involved. Though the court leans heavily in favour of joint custody as being in the best interest of the child, in some cases a parent may wish to present a case for sole custody. In these situations the court has a number of solutions which it may use to resolve the dispute.

  • Firstly, temporary custody grants custody of the child to an individual while the divorce or separation is underway.
  • Child custody laws may grant exclusive custody to one parent, including physical and legal custody of the child in extreme cases.
  • To lessen this, the non-custodial parent may receive supervision rights or, supervised visitation rights, but no legal or physical custody.
  • Finally, if the case of exclusive custody fails, the court will grant the parents equal rights through joint custody. This is awarded for cases in which both parents can properly perform their duties to the child.

Visitation rights may be used when a parent is granted exclusive custody of a child, but the court feels the child will benefit from some contact with the other parent. Child custody laws allow for visitation rights to be granted with restrictions upon if and when the non-custodial parent will be able to see the child.

In some cases child custody laws allow for a third party to be granted exclusive or joint custody of the child. Third parties commonly accepted as custodians are the child's grandparents, who may indeed start their own action against the child's parents if they want to challenge for custody of the child.

It is also possible, dependent upon local child custody laws, to have the court revise a custody agreement if you can demonstrate that one party is not fulfilling their part of the agreement. This might result from one party with joint custody neglecting the child and generally failing to do what is in the child's best interests. Please check our guides on custody and joint custody for further explanation of surrounding issues.