Handling everything that comes with divorce is a lot, but when kids are involved, things get even more stressful. Our divorce lawyer at the Law Offices of Rashmi N. Patel wants to help you navigate the tough waters of divorce and help you get the child custody rights you deserve. Our divorce lawyer can help you gather evidence that strongly supports your claims of being the primary caregiver of your children. Here are some things that a judge will consider as they determine custody arrangements for a child.

Child's Best Interests

A judge will want to know what your child's day-to-day routine looks like, which parent typically does drop off and pick-ups, and anything else about your child's daily schedule. Gathering this type of information will help the judge decide what kind of living arrangements would be the least disruptive to the child's current daily routine. Our divorce lawyer can help you gather the physical evidence you need to back up any claims you have about taking care of your child. Some things that may help are email threads, text threads, and drop-off and pick-up logs from school.

Parental Fitness

Children have a lot of needs, and a judge wants to know that if a parent is granted custody of their child, they will be taken care of. So, the judge will look at the history of each parent and see if they ever had mental health issues, abused drugs, or have charges of domestic violence. Our divorce lawyer can assist in defending you if you have struggled with something like mental health in the past but have since then gotten help from a professional.

Child's Preference

A judge will not be asking a toddler if they have preferences on who they live with, but if the child is old enough to make rational decisions, then the child's preferences will be taken into consideration.

Co-Parenting Ability

The judge does not want to see either parent trying to gain full custody of their child just so the other parent does not see them anymore. A judge wants to see two parents who are willing to communicate and encourage a positive relationship with each of the parents. However, if there is evidence that you have been struggling with co-parenting due to your ex-spouse being unwilling to cooperate, our divorce lawyer can help you use any text messages or other direct communication you have had with them.