Child Custody

When the court decides child custody in Belknap or Carroll counties, the ultimate goal isn’t to punish one parent or the other – it’s to make sure your child has the best possible life. There’s nearly a dozen factors the court will take into account when it awards full or partial custody, but each is geared toward ensuring your child will be loved, cared for, and free from harm.

Two types of child custody cover different aspects of parenting:

• Decision-Making Responsibility: Parents with legal custody are permitted to make decisions for their children such as education, health care, and religious upbringing.
• Residential Responsibility and Parenting Schedule: Physical custody determines where and with whom the child will live during the week. This is usually decided based upon which parent’s living accommodations and work schedule would be the least disruptive to the child’s life. When one parent has sole physical custody, the other parent is often required to pay child support.

Parents seeking to cooperate and split responsibility over their children can develop a parenting plan. The goal of this plan is to suggest how the court should award custody and visitation, but merely serves as a suggestion for a judge’s final orders on these matters.