Understanding Child Custody Laws in California

Knowing how child custody laws work in the state of California can be important. If you are involved in a divorce, you will need to be sure that you know what to expect when custody is determined in your case. Your children will be impacted by the choices that are made when your parenting plan is created, and you will want to be sure that you have considered your options carefully before the custody situation is decided.

Child custody laws in California are a lot like the laws in most of the states in the US, but you should be sure that you are familiar with what options will be presented to you during the custodial agreement process.

Types of Custody Orders in California

1.       California Legal Child Custody

This means that one party will make important choices for healthcare, education, and welfare

2.       Physical Child Custody in CA

Physical custody belongs to the person who your children live with.

3.       Joint Legal Child Custody

In this kind of custody, both parents share the rights and responsibilities of parenting and make joint choices about the healthcare, welfare, and education of the children.

4.       Sole Child Custody in California

This arrangement gives custody to one parent who makes all the decisions about healthcare, welfare, and education for the children. The other parent might still be granted parenting time in this kind of situation but will not make important choices.

Child Visitation Orders for Non-Custodia Parents in California

There is another kind of order that can be granted alongside custodial orders. Visitation is almost always preserved, no matter what the custodial agreement ends up being. This is because children should be allowed to see their non-custodial parent for the sake of stability and emotional well-being, even if they cannot live with this parent for specific reasons.

Visitation might be supervised, or it might not be. The decision to require supervised decision is usually based on the criminal record of the non-custodial parent, but other considerations could cause this choice to be made. Visitation arrangements can be altered if the consideration that caused the order for supervised visitation changes.

Most parenting agreements allow parents to work out the visitation decisions through mutual agreement, but there can be situations where there is no agreement, and a judge will decide for the parents how visitation should be handled. The health and well-being of the children should be top of mind for everyone who is involved in this decision at all times.

Child Custody in California Can be Arranged in Many Ways

If you are working on child custodial decisions, you need to be aware of the allowances that California makes for custodial arrangements. The guidelines that the state of California has in place are meant to protect children from ending up in situations that are not safe for them or that are not ideal for their shared time with each parent.

If you are worried about the creation of a custodial agreement after your divorce, you will need to be sure that you contact Jabro Law Group. We have years of experience with these kinds of cases and can ensure that you get an equitable custodial agreement.