What Factors Does the Court Consider When Determining Child Custody?

The courts will generally make their decisions on custody arrangements based on the theory of “the best interest of the child.” What this means is, what arrangement would be most beneficial to the child? What are the needs of the child? That is the foremost most important factor that the court looks at when determining custody of your child.

For example, one thing I can tell you that the courts do look at that seem to sway their decision is whether the parent who is given custody will continue to foster a relationship with the noncustodial parent. This is important because the court’s primary focus is to be sure that the children continue to foster good relationships with both parents, because it’s in the best interest of the children.

The court also looks at other factors when determining custody. Some of those factors may include:

  • The mental stability of the parents
  • The physical stability of the parents
  • Whether the parents have spent sufficient time with the children
  • What parent is customarily the primary caretaker of the child?
  • What parent is better able to take the children to their schools, to their extracurricular activities?
  • What kind of relationship does the child have to each parent?
  • Is the child closer to one parent than to the other parent?
  • Is one parent abusive?

These and many others are the factors that the courts look at to establish custody of the children. It’s not just a one-factor decision. Children are the most important thing in family court, and it is a very serious decision when a court has to place a child in custody of the parents.

Like I said, there are many factors that the court looks at, so it’s important for you to discuss this with an attorney. Your attorney will most likely advise that you sit down with your partner and possibly come to an agreement as to custody, as it is better for the two of you to have a decision amongst yourselves about custody of your child than to let a judge take that responsibility on something that you might not be happy with.

Child custody is a very serious decision. If you would like to discuss your specific situation, give our office a call at (702) – 998- 1188, contact us at info@ljlawlv.com, or schedule your initial consultation online.

For more information on child custody and other Family Law topics, check out our Family Law TV playlist on our Youtube Channel.

 

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