Law Offices of SRIS, P.C.

It is common for the parent who has custody of the children to try to isolate the children from the other parent. Some parents who have child custody try to exclude the other parent from the children’s lives completely. Sometimes, they do so with good reason such as when the other spouse is dangerous or engaged in criminal activity. Child Custody means the physical and legal control and responsibility for a minor child. Physical custody means that the child will live in the residence of the custodial parent.

Child custody can be, essentially, divided into two types: legal custody and physical custody. Legal child custody deals with the control of the child, care for them, and decisions about the child’s well-being. Typically, these decisions are made in important areas such as medical care, education, and religious training. Legal custody may be joint or sole in Virginia & Maryland.

On the other hand, physical child custody primarily concerns the child’s day-to-day life and living situation. Physical child custody determines where the children will live following the divorce. In your divorce agreement in Virginia & Maryland, you will decide who will be the “custodial” parent and who will be the “noncustodial” parent. The custodial parent is the primary caretaker with whom the children live, while the noncustodial parent will retain visitation privileges with his or her children.

A child custody agreement is typically part of the general divorce proceeding in Virginia & Maryland. The child custody agreement will be concluded through a signed document called a parenting plan in Virginia & Maryland. These signed contracts allow parents to enforce their rights to visit the children if one parent behaves in a way contrary to what they agreed to. Parenting plan records are maintained with the divorce records and can, therefore, be found in the courts where divorce proceedings are heard.

Parties commonly argue about what kind of access they have to the children when the children are in the other parent’s care. For example, how often the parents get to call the children if they are in possession of the other parent can become an issue during a child custody case in Virginia or Maryland.

Child Custody disputes arise most often when parents decide to separate or when the parents never married. In these cases, courts in Virginia & Maryland are called upon to award custody, based upon the law and the facts as presented in court. Child custody court proceedings in Virginia & Maryland are frequently long, emotionally draining, and expensive.

Many judges in Virginia and Maryland encourage parents to work together to create a custody and visitation schedule that is in the best interests of their child. Parents can do this together or with the help of a mediator and then submit the plan to the judge. The judge in Virginia or Maryland will often adopt the parents’ schedule if they agree on everything and the schedule is good for the child.

Contact our law firm today to speak with a child custody lawyer in Fairfax, Virginia about the consequences of moving out of state with your child in a child custody case in Virginia or Maryland. We have attorneys licensed to help clients in Virginia and Maryland with child custody cases. An Maryland/Virginia custody attorney from our firm will do his best to help you.