What Determines Child Custody After Divorce

Divorce rates are on the rise in America today. Based on researchers, only about 50% of all new marriages have a chance to last. Divorce brings the need to determine who gets to stay with the children once the process is final. According to research, 75% of children with divorced parents are made to stay with their mother and the other 25% with their father.

Many factors determine who gets custody of the children, including:

1. The age of your children: There is no hard rule about this, but generally, courts prefer having consistency when it comes to young children. However, the couple can decide to have family mediators to help with the discussions. These are qualified and court-approved mediators that are used in mediating a family issue of any kind to find lasting solutions — especially when it comes to the age of the children involved.
2. Parent’s wishes: With the help of a divorce lawyer, parents can make their wishes known to the court on how they wish the custody of the children to be handled. Divorce lawyers are also mandated in mediating a family issue of this nature for the best interests of the children.
3. The parent-children relationship: With the help of divorce mediators and counselors, a divorcing couple can honestly agree on who stays with the children based on how best the child or children relate to each particular parent or the desires of the child. The court also mandates divorce mediators while mediating a family issue to monitor how each decision will affect the wellbeing of the child and present their findings to the court. The divorcing couple needs to also agree on how to handle the divorce mediator costs.
4. Parental responsibility: Mediating a family issue that deals with divorce and child custody is never easy. The court can determine who keeps the children or gets primary custody based on the ability to provide for the children. They can look at which parent has been providing most of the care for the child/children up to the point of divorce. If one parent is always traveling and the other is more consistent in providing primary care, the court may use this to give custody to the parent that is with the kids most of their time.
5. Ability to provide basic needs: The court looks at the strength of each parent to provide a stable, secure, and comfortable environment for the child/children. Before a divorce, families share a home, and most of the responsibilities are shared. The court is likely to ask for a child custody evaluation from each parent. This is an essential aspect when mediating a family issue dealing with child custody.
6. Willingness to maintain child-parent relationships: The court looks at the desire of each parent to facilitate the relationship between the children and the other parent. Most divorce cases are acrimonious, but with the help of family mediation services, the couple can be counseled to see reason and agree to allow for a continued relationship with the children.
7. Living conditions: Divorcing your partner may not be easy, and it is made more difficult when there are children and property to consider. If a couple had bought a house, it is important to agree who gets it because the court will always want to give custody of children to the parent that has displayed the ability to provide housing for the minors. If there isn’t a house involved, the parents must demonstrate the ability to provide safe and secure accommodation for the child/children.

Parents should make it a priority to protect their children from their misunderstandings under these difficult circumstances. The courts are mandated to protect the children and ensure that they get the best care before, during, and after a divorce.