Carpinteria Child Custody Lawyer

Fighting for the ability to stay in your child’s life can be incredibly frustrating and incredibly personal. In many child custody cases, there can be ongoing legal issues that last until the child becomes an adult. If you need help protecting your custody rights or fighting to gain custody rights of your children in Carpinteria, contact an attorney today.

The Carpinteria child custody lawyers at The Law Offices of Bamieh and De Smeth represent parents in child custody disputes and work to protect their parental rights. If you are involved in a custody issue or want to fight for sole or joint custody of your kids, call our law offices today for a free consultation and more information about what our attorneys can do to help. Our number is (805) 643-5555.

How Does Child Custody Work in Carpinteria, CA?

Child custody is a complex field of law. Often, child custody cases are difficult because parents may see their children as the most important things in their lives, and each party can get very passionate about the potential of losing custody or having to share custody. Our lawyers understand these struggles and work to represent our clients zealously during their custody disputes.

First, it is important to understand that there are two different types of custody. The first is legal custody, which covers the legal right to make decisions in your child’s life. The second is physical custody, which covers the right to have your child live with you in your household. Both of these forms of custody can come as “sole custody,” where only one parent has custody, or “joint custody,” where the parents share the rights. Joint legal custody means that each parent has the right to make decisions and be involved in their children’s lives, whereas joint physical custody means that both parents have the children live with them as part of a split parenting schedule.

The powers granted by legal custody give you the right to make decisions for big issues in your children’s lives. This typically includes decisions related to what religion the child will practice, what school the child will attend, healthcare decisions for your child, and other overarching decisions. When parents have joint custody, each parent gets equal abilities to share in this decision-making process.

With physical custody, you have your child living with you. This often gives you more control over day-to-day decisions, like what your child will eat or if they can play with friends on a school night. While one parent may try to enforce their decisions, the other parent may not have to listen to those decisions, and the court may need to get involved to help sort out disagreements.

Awarding Custody and Removing Custody in California

In the majority of cases, California courts and judges prefer to give joint custody. If both parents are willing to be involved in their kids’ lives and want to act as parents, courts usually prefer to allow both parents legal and physical custody rights. In some cases, the court may see circumstances that make them reconsider joint custody. Ultimately, the decision is based on the best interests of the child.

If you are awarded joint physical custody, this often means that there will be some sort of parenting plan that divides who has the children at what times. This could include plans where the parents each get the children for half the year, especially if the parents live close together. In other cases, the children may stay with one parent throughout most of the year, living with the other on alternating weekends and holidays.

When the court decides who gets legal and physical custody, it looks to a series of factors. Courts want to place the children with the parent who will be there for their children. This means that courts may see a parent working a full-time job as unable to spare the time to raise their children. Additionally, parents who are not equipped to handle the difficulty of raising a child may steer a court away from giving them equal rights to physical custody.

In some cases, courts may entirely strip a parent of custody. When a parent is stripped of physical custody, they may still have legal custody. This gives them the right to continue making decisions about their child’s upbringing, but they cannot have the child live with them. Courts may award the right to visitation or supervised visitation to allow the parent time with their children. If the court strips you of legal custody rights, you would lose all legal decision-making and access rights.

Courts are constantly looking out for the best interests of the children in custody cases. That means that things like criminal activity, drug or alcohol abuse, or physical or sexual abuse in the household may lead a court to strip a parent of physical or legal custody rights. Talk to an attorney immediately if your children face abuse or mistreatment from their other parent.

Carpinteria Child Custody Lawyers Offering Free Consultations

If you are involved in a custody dispute and need an attorney to represent you, call the Carpinteria child custody attorneys at The Law Offices of Bamieh and De Smeth today. Our attorneys have combined decades of experience representing parents in their custody battles and may be able to help you, too. For a free consultation, contact our law offices today at (805) 643-5555.