California has long recognized the importance of both parents being actively involved in their children’s development. Generally, family law courts throughout the state will attempt to allow both parents to share in child custody and visitation unless there are obvious circumstances which may adversely affect the children involved in any particular case.
Things like child abandonment, endangering the safety of the child, a parent’s drug or alcohol dependency and domestic violence are some of the things which may convince a court to amend an existing child custody order.
As a divorced parent you should know that your current child custody status can affect other parts of your divorce. For example, if you are presently receiving child support from the other parent your loss of primary child custody could drastically reduce or eliminate any payments that you currently receive. Alternatively, if you are currently paying spousal support, or alimony, a court may reduce or eliminate the amount of those payments if the other parent loses primary custody.
Regardless of whether you provide a child’s primary residence, or you currently pay child support and alimony, there are a few things you should know. Either parent can request a review of those current orders if situations arise which may adversely affect your child’s physical, emotional or mental health.
Based in Livermore, our law firm has a collective 35 years of experience representing clients in San Mateo and Alameda counties, as well as other cities throughout the Bay Area. Regardless of which side you are on, we can help to relieve many of the stresses and obligations related to requests for child custody modifications. Prospective clients should know that our law firm is one of the largest collections of family law attorneys in the Bay Area.