Parsippany Child Custody Lawyer
If you have children, dealing with custody matters will understandably be one of the most important and most emotionally-charged aspects of your divorce. You and your spouse both want what is best for your children; but, as you go your separate ways, you may have different ideas about what makes the most sense going forward.
At Riordan Family Law, our Parsippany child custody lawyers have extensive experience – both as advocates and as neutral mediators – in New Jersey custody matters; and we can help you develop and execute a thoughtful plan for achieving a desirable outcome in your divorce.
Understanding Child Custody in Your Parsippany Divorce
Legal or Physical?
New Jersey’s child custody laws are somewhat complicated, and if you are seeking custody rights in Parsippany, it is important to make sure you understand the key questions and issues that will be involved. One of the first things to understand is that there are actually three different types of custody in New Jersey: joint legal, joint physical and sole.
Joint Legal custody refers to the right to have an equal voice in important decisions regarding your children’s upbringing. This generally includes decisions regarding things like education, religion, health and general welfare. As a parent, it is understandable to want to have as much of a say in how your children are raised as possible, and we can help you be proactive about seeking the legal custody rights you desire.
In a strictly legal custody arrangement, one parent has more than 50% of the parenting time with the children, referred to as the parent of primary residence, and the other parent has less than 50% of the parenting time with the children, referred to as the parent of alternate residence. This is the most common type of custody.
Joint Physical custody (is what most people think of when custody comes to mind. This type of custody arrangement is where the parents each have 50% of the parenting time with the children. This is an equal custody arrangement both physically and legally. The Parsippany, NJ courts consider a number of different factors in determining joint physical custody rights, and it will be important to consider these factors whether you are going through an amicable or contested divorce.
Sole Legal custody refers to one parent rendering all the decisions regarding the children’s education, religion, health and general welfare. This arrangement is generally applied to high conflict cases where the parents’ inability to agree on virtually anything is hampering the best interests of the children.
