By Law Do Mothers Have Greater Custody Rights?
by Amber M. Serwat
It is a somewhat common myth that the court system favors the mother in divorce custody disputes. These assumptions are based on the long held tradition that mothers are, generally speaking, more often the primary caregivers for the children in a family. Today, however, it is just as common for mothers to work outside the home and child custody agreements are based on what is in the best interest of the children, not on who spends more time at home…
Read Full Article →
If you have a child-custody agreement with your former spouse, you may find it necessary to make a simple modification to that agreement. Similarly, if your former spouse approaches you about needing to make a simple child custody modification, you need not necessarily respond as if it is a major problem. In most cases, modifying a child custody agreement can be done without much difficulty or involving the courts. However, if your relationship with your former spouse is strained, you may at first perceive the request as a major inconvenience. In virtually all circumstances pertaining to child custody modification, though, the team at AMS Mediation can be helpful.
The communication between most divorcing couples is filled with a lot of emotion. After all, you and your spouse tried unsuccessfully to make your marriage work and you likely have very different views on why things went wrong in the marriage and whose fault it was. When you sign your divorce papers (especially if you share children), you end one phase of your relationship and begin another. You must nearly instantly shift from being married to co-parenting. During this time, you must also shift your focus from looking back on your unsuccessful marriage to looking forward toward building a new life for yourself. Changing your communication style can be extremely helpful during this time.
At AMS Mediation, we know that few things are more important to divorcing parents than determining the terms of custody. If you and your ex-spouse cannot agree on the terms of a custody arrangement, the court may require you to work with a custody evaluator in order to ensure that the best possible decisions are made on behalf of your children. A custody evaluator (CE) will evaluate your case over the course of several months and make specific recommendations to the court about…
Many states now require divorcing couples (that have no history of domestic violence) to participate in an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) process before litigating the terms of the divorce. This is in large part because the courts cannot effectively manage all of the divorce cases coming through the system. Mediation is a popular and highly effective ADR process that can be used to settle all aspect of a divorce including division of property, assets and debts, development of a parenting plan and determination of the need for child and/or spousal support.
Child custody evaluations occur frequently when custody is in question for divorcing couples, and AMS Mediation is uniquely qualified to help you through this process. Even though custody evaluations are used to ensure that the needs of your children are met, the process can still produce stress and anxiety for divorcing parents. In general, a child custody evaluation is a process by which a mental health professional evaluates the parents and children, and then makes a recommendation to the court regarding custody and visitation.