Category: Child Visitation

33 S. Catalina Ave. Ste. 202

Pasadena, Ca. 91106

(626) 478-3550

Tags Child Custody, child custody battle, child visitation, Divorce

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Parental Rights Initiation: The Question of Equal Child Custody

Post author By Scott
Post date November 24, 2014

In North Dakota’s recent 2014 election, there was an interesting voter initiative on the ballot – the “Parental Rights Initiative.” If it had passed (it was defeated 62% to 38%) it would have required courts to award “equal parenting time” to both parents either in the separation process, or divorce. Though the law didn’t pass, it does shine a light on the on-going debate about how child custody cases are decided.

History of Child Custody

The issue of deciding child custody has a long history in the nation. Colonial Americans, following English rule, maintained that a father should retain the custody of his children upon divorce. This was standard practice until the early 20th century, when motherhood and women as “caregivers” became the norm. As divorce became more common during the 1960’s, there was a large shift towards gender equality and the importance of both parents in a child’s upbringing.

Custody Indivisible

Despite the shifts between one parent being favored over the other, one thing remained true: custody was indivisible. One parent would raise the child, while the other parent would have visiting rights. But shared custody has become more socially and legally accepted as parents have started shouldering more equal parenting responsibilities. And rather than relying on judges to determine “in the best interest of the child,” separating and divorcing parents have started to take on the task of creating their own enforcable “parenting plans” for their children.

Parenting Plans

Parenting plans are custody agreements, often put together with the help of a mediator. They are meant to be flexible, but also detailed, outlining each parent’s responsibility in the raising of the child. This idea of coming to an agreement fits more in line with healthy child development. An agreed to plan means the child does not get stuck between warring parents duking it out in damaging litigation. It can create a more harmonious living situation for all involved, and most importantly, for the child who is caught in the middle.

For advice on child custody, you need the expert law firm of Divorce Law LA. Schedule a consultation today.

Source: The Washington Post, There’s a great way to figure out child custody. Most divorce courts don’t use it., November 14, 2014

33 S. Catalina Ave. Ste. 202

Pasadena, Ca. 91106

(626) 478-3550

Tags Child Custody, child visitation, child visitation rights

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Miller Custody Battle

Post author By Scott
Post date November 20, 2014

When You Might Consider a Lawyer for Personal Injury Claims

An agreement has finally been reached in the custody battle between Olympic skier Bode Miller, 37, and his ex-girlfriend.

Custody Battle

Five-time world champion Miller and ex-girlfriend, Sara McKenna, 28, a student at Columbia University, have been stuck in a bitter custody battle over their 18-month-old son, Samuel. The two have struck a deal just on the eve of a trial where each were expected to bring witnesses to testify to the psychological impact of the the temporary joint custody arrangement was having on Samuel. The two were also in disagreement regarding the amount of child support McKenna had requested.

Previous Custody Ruling

McKenna is a retired Marine who is attending Columbia on the GI Bill. She gave birth to Samuel during her first semester at Columbia in New York. Prior to the baby even being born, Miller was awarded custody of him in California court. Initially, a New York family court judge supported the California ruling and thus, ordered McKenna to surrender Samuel to Miller. A judge in the Appellate Division in Manhattan overturned that decision, ruling that a custody decision needed to be made in New York (not California) because the baby had been born in New York. As a result, McKenna and the Samuel were reunited. Over the past year McKenna and Miller (along with his new wife, volleyball player Morgan Beck) have shared custody, splitting time between California and New York.

McKenna and Miller

McKenna and Miller had a brief fling while McKenna was in California and McKenna got pregnant. Allegedly, when she got pregnant, Miller did not want to take part in Samuel’s life. Thus, McKenna enrolled in the veterans program at Columbia. She had already accepted the scholarship to Columbia and made plans to move to New York when Miller filed for custody in California.

For advice on child custody and paternity, you need the expert law firm of Divorce Law LA. Schedule a consultation today.

Source: Daily News, Bode Miller settles custody fight for son with ex Sara McKenna, November 17, 2014

33 S. Catalina Ave. Ste. 202

Pasadena, Ca. 91106

(626) 478-3550

Tags Child Custody, Child Support, custody, custody battle, paternity

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Patric’s Paternity and Custody Ruling

Post author By Scott
Post date November 19, 2014

Recently, a California court ruled Jason Patric is a legal parent of Gus Schreiber, the 4-year old boy that was conceived with Patric’s sperm. Patric’s custody lawsuit has made news for the past two years via accusations and media campaigns. Most notably, it has brought one question to the forefront of paternity issues: At what point does a sperm donor become a father?

Paternity and Custody Lawsuit

Patric agreed to donate his sperm to ex-girlfiend Danielle Schreiber in 2008. The donation was under the conditions that she did would not expect to receive child support and that she would not tell anyone that Patric was the biological father. Gus was born in 2009. At that time, Patric’s conditions remained the same. But in 2011, Patric and Schreiber rekindled their relationship. During that time, Schreiber, Gus, and Patric spent time together. Schreiber even told the child to call Patric “Dada.” The two broke up in 2012. Patric decided to sue for custody. A media circus ensued. Allegations of abuse by Patric were made. Patric put together an organization called “Stand Up For Gus,” with aims to change laws around sperm donor rights in the nation.

Family Code Section 7613(b)

California’s Family Code Section 7613(b) states if a man provides semen to a physician “for use in artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization of a woman other than the donor’s wife is treated in law as if he were not the natural father of a child thereby conceived.” This law, like others pertaining to children conceived without intercourse, was written in the 1970s as a way to protect rights of parents using sperm banks, as well as the anonymous donors to the sperm banks. But that’s not the case as much anymore as families become more and more untraditional. There are now numerous parent-donor scenarios.

New Laws, in Light of Patric’s Case

Patric’s fight for custody of Gus has generated numerous new bills, such as the Modern Family Act, which defines and protects the rights of these new parent-donor scenarios and “nontraditional” parents such as LGBTQ families. It also defines cases where a donor (sperm or egg) plays a parental role in the child’s life, regardless of the type of relationship they share with the other parent.

But the judge’s ruling does not necessarily mean Patric will get custody of Gus. In light of the highly publicized and ugly paternity battle, a judge might decide Gus is best left in his mother’s care.

For advice on child custody and paternity, you need the expert law firm of Divorce Law LA. Schedule a consultation today.

Source: Refinery29, Jason Patric’s Ugly Battle Raises One Important Question, November 4, 2014

33 S. Catalina Ave. Ste. 202

Pasadena, Ca. 91106

(626) 478-3550

Tags Child Custody, child custody case, child custody dispute, paternity, paternity ruling

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A Victory for Shared Parenting

Post author By Scott
Post date November 14, 2014

Negotiation versus Litigation in a Slip and Fall Case

Shared parenting has fought its battles in family law court where the awarding of a child’s custody to one parent has often been a family law tradition. Such rulings have often left the non-custodial parent with far less time that the custodial parent.

Shared Parenting

Supporters of shared parenting argue that for cases that do not involve allegations of physical abuse, substance abuse, or other issues, both parents should equal time with their children. Convincing state lawmakers of this idea has proven difficult, until now. The National Parents Organization has just released the results of a study that evaluated state custody laws. And when it comes to shared parenting, most of them received D’s.

History of Shared Parenting

According to Dr. Ned Holstein, founder of the National Parents Organization, judges have long relied on decades-old research that dictated what was best for children, rather than more recent studies that have since discredited the theory that children should only be with their mothers.

Linda Nielsen, professor of adolescent and educational psychology at Wake Forest University, has reviewed dozens of studies of child parenting situations. Shared parenting situations often showed lower levels of depression, anxiety, substance abuse, truancy, and other negative behaviors when compared to children who spent most of their time with a custodial parent. Nielsen agrees that judges, lawyers, psychologists, mediators, and others working in family law are often unaware of the current research that’s in support of shared parenting.

Making the Case for “Case-by-Case”

While the case can be made for shared parenting, Linda Scher, a family mediator, feels judges need to have flexibility when determining custody issues in order to make their decisions based on the terms of the case. While shared parenting works well in some situations, Scher feels it might “not necessarily [work] for children who are very young, or for those who need consistency.” And because of this, each case must be determined on a case-by-case basis.

For advice on divorce and child visitation, you need the expert law firm of Divorce Law LA. Schedule a consultation today.

Source: USA Today, Report: States fail on shared parenting laws, November 13, 2014

33 S. Catalina Ave. Ste. 202

Pasadena, Ca. 91106

(626) 478-3550

Tags shared custody, shared parenting

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Collins’ Divorce

Post author By Scott
Post date November 11, 2014

While Stephen Collins’ divorce is scheduled for court on Wednesday, there’s a chance it might not make it to trial.

Ugly Divorce

The actor and his divorce became top news a few months ago when his estranged wife, Faye Grant, taped his confession of molesting young girls decades ago. The two are scheduled to divide their assets after 25 years of marriage.

Divorce attorney Lisa Bloom, has handled some pretty divorce cases herself, but according to her, “This is probably the ugliest case to hit the media.” This is mostly due to the fact that Grant has provided a tape of the couples’ therapy session during which Collins admitted to molesting underage girls.While the audio recording is not admissible as evidence in divorce case, it does turn the spotlight on the case that has been going on for two years.

Determining Division of Assets

While the court will not assign a fault for the divorce, as California is a “no fault” state, the court will look at the martial assets that will need to be divided. “The court wants to find out the pool of assets they’re working with — real property, bank accounts, money coming in from royalties — and generally it’s divided roughly 50-50,” Bloom says. “The court does not want to get into reasons for the divorce; everyone has their reasons, everyone is angry, upset and emotional in divorces.” According to Bloom, “While the tape is not relevant in a California no-fault divorce trial, it may be relevant if the case leads to a settlement, which often happens.”

End of Collins’ Career

Collins has not been charged, but the damage to his career has already been done. He was dropped by his agent and has lost numerous up-coming roles. Grant has said in a recent statement she was not responsible for leaking the audio, and also that the tape has not played a part in the divorce proceedings that have occurred over the past two years. Grant is seeking $13,000 per month in spousal support, as well as half of the couple’s millions in assets which include properties in Brentwood. Collins is hoping to eliminate the spousal support due to the effect the recording has had on his income.

For advice on divorce, you need the expert law firm of Divorce Law LA. Schedule a consultation today.

Source: USA Today, ‘Ugly’ Stephen Collins divorce trial set to begin, November 11, 2014

33 S. Catalina Ave. Ste. 202

Pasadena, Ca. 91106

(626) 478-3550

Tags Divorce, divorce proceedings, divorce settlement, Spousal Support

Child Custody Child Visitation

Child Visitation During the Holidays

Post author By Scott
Post date November 5, 2014

As the holidays quickly approach, it’s important to have your child visitation schedule worked out. Making sure there is a plan in place will help ease the tension of the holidays and ensure you don’t have to constantly negotiate with your ex over which holiday will be spent where.

State’s Recommendations for Child Visitation During Holidays

Each state has its own visitation recommendations for holidays. Still, parents typically rotate major holidays such as Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, Easter, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Halloween. Usually, a child, or children will spend days such as Mother’s Day and Father’s Day with their respective parents. When visiting out of state parents, or parents that live further away, the scheduled time is adjusted to compensate for any time spent traveling to an from.

Child Visitation During Extended Vacation Time

For extended vacation times, such as Christmas or Hanukkah vacation, or summer breaks, time is typically divided evenly between the parents. So for example, one parent will take the first half, and the other parent will take the second half of the break.

When to Decide on Holiday Child Visitation Plans

Holiday visitation schedules often take precedence over the standard weekly schedule. And sometimes the holidays will disrupt the standard schedule It’s suggested that you plan the holiday schedule early in advance and clearly, as to avoid any confusion. It’s also important to keep a record of the schedule, so any questions or conflicts can be quickly resolved.

Even with a holiday schedule firmly in place, there may still be conflicts that arise. Working with a divorce and child custody attorney can help you handle any holiday visitation issues.

Source: WomansDivorce.com, Holiday Visitation Issues, 2014

33 S. Catalina Ave. Ste. 202

Pasadena, Ca. 91106

(626) 478-3550

Tags child visitation, child visitation agreement

Child Custody Child Visitation Divorce Family Law

Parental Gatekeeping in Child Custody Cases

Post author By Scott
Post date August 15, 2014

“Parental Gatekeeping” might not be an everyday word for intact families, but it does impact and come into play fairly often in child custody cases.

What is “Parental Gatekeeping”?

Parental Gatekeeping is the act of facilitating and/or restricting the relationship one parent has with a child. When a parent is restrictive with parental gatekeeping they often place limitations on communication or access to the child. This is often done for the child’s protection in cases where there has been physical abuse, neglect, or substance abuse.

Unreasonable Gatekeeping

Gatekeeping can also be done for unreasonable reasons – as an attempt to harm the relationship between a child and the second parent. This can be done in all forms – verbally attacking the other parent, restricts communication between the parent and child, or restricts the time the parent is allowed with the child, or purposefully tries to destroy the relationship the child has with the other parent. When this is done, a certain question arises – is the parent doing the gatekeeping just as dangerous as the other parent? And if this is the case, should that parent also lose custody rights? This can get tricky when it comes to child custody law – especially since states like California do not have specific family codes that punish this type of gatekeeping.

California Law

Parenting time, lack of co-parenting, as well as false allegations surrounding parental care all play into custody cases. But oftentimes judges do not take all of this into consideration in equal ways. The undefined nature of “parental gatekeeping” needs to be taken into further consideration. In litigious divorce and child custody cases it can be difficult for a judge to get a full vision of the child’s life. A court will always rule in the best interest of the child, and will base its decision on numerous factors.

For advice on child custody, you need the expert law firm of Divorce Law LA. Schedule a consultation today.

Source: Huffington Post, Are Child Custody Laws That Treat Parental Gatekeeping Like Child Abuse Long Overdue?, August 12, 2014

33 S. Catalina Ave. Ste. 202

Pasadena, Ca. 91106

(626) 478-3550