Child Custody Laws

During a divorce, the two parties involved go through several proceedings, including division of property and possible alimony guidelines. In addition, if the divorcing couple have children, then proceedings continue with through determining who receives custody and the amount of child support paid by each party. Custody proceedings are usually peaceful and both parties come to agreements that they both are satisfied with. Child custody is just as much a right as it is a duty. It involves caring for a child and making important decisions that will affect the child’s life.

What is the Definition of Child Custody Laws?

Child custody laws is a term used to describe the legal relationship between a custodial parent and his or her child and the legal right he or she has to make decisions in the best interest of the child. Custody laws in the United States grant a parent or family member the legal right to raise the child their sole or joint custody, and another parent of the child may be given visitation rights The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child has recently created, however, a national standard of terms used to describe the United States’ version of custody law and visitation. They call it “residence” and “contact”, respectively. In addition, custody laws on the international level usually refer to residence and contact as “parenting scheduling”. This is done to disregard the terms of custodial and noncustodial parents; this done to ease the child’s worries and to ease tension in divorce disputes in custody laws proceedings.

As mentioned earlier, issues causing residence and contact proceedings typically include the termination of a marriage and other similar legal proceedings in which a child is involved. The international standard when choosing which parent or person receives custody of the child is usually done in a process that takes a child’s best interest in mind. It is no secret that within child custody laws, is where the most heated disputes take place between two or more parties involved. Arguments are usually turned ugly fast, usually in desperate attempts to gain custody of the child.

Child Custody Laws in the United States:
Using New York State as an example, child custody laws are typical as follows:
For all children under the age of 18, custody of the child is a mandatory proceeding within divorce disputes involving children. In almost all cases, child custody laws state that child custody is rewarded to either the mother or the father, unless under a unique circumstance where another family member may receive custody if both parents are deemed unfit to raise a child.

Facts Pertaining to Child Custody Laws:
According to reports, paternal child custody rewards were approximately 15 percent.

In the 12 million single parent families within the United States, 10 million of them are run by single parent mothers.

According to research by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 87 percent of women say that they hug their children at least once a day, while 73 percent of fathers did the same.