Know Your Rights As A Parent Or Guardian

Child Custody

& Child Support

Finding peaceful and fair solutions for Child Custody, Visitation Rights and Child Support

Child Custody & Visitation

The state encourages both parents to remain engaged and involved in their child’s life, however, family court judges consider a broad range of factors when deciding where a child will spend his or her nights and how much time each parent will spend with a child.

Which parent served as the primary caretaker during the relationship?
The stability of each parent’s home environment
The character, fitness, attitude and inclinations of each parent
The child’s preference, if the child is deemed of suitable age and maturity to make a decision
The existence of any physical abuse, sexual abuse or domestic violence, or any immoral conduct by either parent
The opinion of a court-appointed guardian ad litem
Any written agreement that both parents have reached

Child Support

Child support orders are based on two primary factors:

Generally, the non-custodial parent, or the parent whose income is the highest, pays support to the other parent for the time period that the children are not in his or her custody. In other words, the more time the non-custodial parent spends with the children, the less child support s/he will be ordered to pay to the custodial parent.