Parents play a very important role in caring, providing for, and shaping the lives of their children. And when parents go through a divorce, children are bound to get affected by it. To ensure their well-being, many states including the state of Oklahoma have made legislation that protects the interests of these children and holds the parents responsible for their care. If you’re a parent, especially a father going through or anticipating a divorce in Oklahoma, it becomes important to have some knowledge of these laws in order to protect your rights as a parent, which is why it should be of utmost importance to get talking to a family law firm such as petersmay.com or similar so you know where you stand in terms of legalities.
Importance of Child Custody Laws
The fight for your rights in a divorce is very taxing not just for you but also for your children. The care and custody of the children is often the top priority of the parents. If you and your partner have agreed that getting a divorce is for the best, putting the kids first is important. But you don’t want to drag them into this, as you don’t know how it’s going to go. With that being said, getting in touch with someone like a Divorce Lawyer Chicago may be the answer you’ve been looking for when it comes to dealing with this in the right way. They’ll be able to give you advice on the best way to move forward with your life. But sometimes the battle of parents over custody arrangements can turn into a disturbing situation for the children. Child custody laws may determine which parent will get the child’s custody, but they put the interests of the child first and foremost. These laws ensure the child does not get hurt physically, emotionally or socially by the custody arrangements.
Types of Custody
Child custody refers to all parental rights in the upbringing of the child. These rights include seeking custody, seeking visitation, involvement in making important decisions regarding the child’s education, health, medical care, etc., and getting notified and heard before the rights are terminated by a court. Oklahoma courts grant different types of child custody to address various aspects of the child’s well-being. With this being said, it isn’t just the courts in Oklahoma that will be able to guide anyone who may find themselves in this situation. Whether it is someone from Texas who requires the assistance of a company like Covington Law Firm, PLLC or parents from London, UK, who have decided to get in touch with a local attorney, there is hope for pretty much everyone when it comes to going down the right path in relation to child custody. These types are:
Physical Custody
Physical custody is the child’s care at that particular time. The parent to whom the child’s care is entrusted at that particular moment is said to have the physical custody of the child at that moment. During the allocation of custody, the court gives a parenting plan which specifies who will have the physical custody of the child through school, in holidays, during weekends, on festivals and on special occasions.
Legal Custody
Legal custody refers to a parent’s right to make important legal decisions regarding education, health, medical care, religion and more for the child. It can be of two types: Sole Custody or Joint Custody. Sole custody means only one parent gets the right to make legal decisions for the child. Under joint custody both the parents share the right to make important decisions for the child.
Primary Custody
Primary custody is a relatively new concept in child custody laws. It refers to the primary right to making legal decisions for the children in case one of the parents moves a significant distance away. When one of the parents moves away or seeks to relocate the court may ask the parents to specify who the primary custodian is. If you’re a father seeking to relocate, you might need to modify your custody or father visitation rights.
Custody Modification
If you’re a father who already has a court-ordered custody arrangement, you can still file a motion to modify a custody order in case of substantial changes. For example, let’s say you’ve hired a Private Investigator who has discovered that the mother of your child has been mistreating them, this can lead to custody being transferred to you. Even the Oklahoma courts agree that an individual’s life and situation tend to change as time passes and this can affect the child custody arrangements. Hence, the court also considers such modifications given they are driven by substantial changes in your circumstances that invariably affect the best interests of your children.
Fathers often have to fight harder for their parental rights due to the misconception that only mothers can take the best care of the child. When you’re navigating a divorce or wishing to modify a court-ordered custody arrangement, it is better to let an experienced child custody attorney handle your case to protect your parental rights.
