CHILD CUSTODY LAWS IN CALIFORNIA EXPLAINED - VIDEO #24 (2021)
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- čas přidán 1. 08. 2024
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Tutorial video in a series of DIY divorce videos explaining child custody laws in California.
Legal custody is all about making decisions regarding the health, education, and welfare of the children. There is “joint legal custody” and “sole legal custody”. Joint legal custody means you and your spouse equally share in the rights and responsibilities of making decisions that concern the health, education, and welfare of your children. Examples of these kinds of decisions are decisions about which school or daycare the children will attend; what kinds of extracurricular activities they will participate in, deciding which doctor and dentist will treat them; what kind of medical or dental treatment they will receive; whether they will receive therapy; etc.
If you and your spouse have “joint legal custody”, you are required to discuss, in good faith, these decisions and make joint decisions. If you have “sole legal custody”, then you can make all of these decisions by yourself and you are not obligated to obtain the consent of your spouse before making important decisions about your children’s health, education, and welfare.
Most people agree to joint legal custody. However, there are a number of reasons why you may want sole legal custody. If you were the victim of domestic violence during the marriage, you may not want to have discussions after the divorce with your ex-spouse about the children. If, during the marriage, you were the parent that assumed sole responsibility for dealing with the children’s school, doctors, dentist, and extracurricular activities, then you and your spouse may both agree that you should continue in this role. If you anticipate that your spouse will oftentimes be unresponsive or slow to respond when it comes to making decisions about the children, then you may want to have sole legal custody.
“Physical custody” refers to how much time the children spend with each parent. Like with legal custody, when it comes to physical custody, you can have “joint physical custody” or “sole physical custody”. Joint physical custody means the parents are sharing physical custody of the children in some way. Many people think that “joint physical custody” means 50/50 custody. Although 50/50 custody is a form of joint physical custody, any arrangement whereby the children spend some amount of time in each parent’s physical custody is a “joint physical custody” agreement. So, if the kids are with Dad 20% of the time and with Mom 80% of the time, that is still a form of “joint physical custody”. “Sole physical custody” means the children are in just one parent’s physical custody. There are lots of different terms that people use when making physical custody orders. For example, terms may be used such as “primary physical custody” or “primary residence of the children” or the phrase “reasonable rights of visitation” may be used instead of having the agreement say one parent has physical custody.
If Dad has only “reasonable rights of visitation”, the agreement is so vague that it is essentially unenforceable. Dad could call Mom 20 times and ask to visit with the children and Mom could refuse visitation all 20 times without technically being in violation of the court’s order because “reasonable rights of visitation” is not precisely defined.
If you and your spouse can’t reach an agreement about how to share custody of our children, one option is to see if your spouse is willing to meet with a therapist that specializes in child custody issues. Oftentimes, a good therapist can help you come to an agreement on child custody issues. Another option is to meet with a private mediator to resolve the custody dispute.
If you end up having to litigate child custody disputes, the court will require you and your spouse to participate in a court program called “Child Custody Mediation” or sometimes it is called “Child Custody Recommending Counseling”. You will be required to participate in one of these programs before you attend any child custody hearing. We discuss how to prepare for and what to do during “Child Custody Mediation” or “Child Custody Recommending Counseling” in a later video when we start talking about contested divorce cases and “Temporary Orders”.
“Parent Visitation” is an out of date term. “Parenting time” is the appropriate term when a parent spends time with the child. Us parents don’t visit, we parent.
I agree that "parenting time" is a much better phrase. "Custodial time" is another good phrase. These phrases that judges, lawyers, and pro pers use change over time. Unfortunately, the word "visitation" appears on multiple Judicial Council forms dealing with child custody.
Is 'Memorandum of limited Understanding reaching in confidential mediation' from 2019 considered a custody order or court order?
i have a 14 year old that always needs a signiture from both parents half of the year the dad lives outside the country so it makes harder to reach him to sign any document such as passport. we've been seperated since 12 yrs ago but I am tired of chasing him fir this I asked for full custody but he doesn't want to can I just get sole custody for those important matters
Thank you for your video
What if not married and he is not on birth certificate
I have a question. My sons father and I split before our son was born. He lives in SoCal and I live in NorCal. We don’t communicate well, and I have expressed my opinions about court. He lives more than 50 miles away, and he wanted our son to go back n forth. My son is 10 months and I’m the only one who is concerned about his mental health, and don’t want him traveling back n forth. Ive had him here ever since he was born, if I were to do the long distance custody, will I have legal custody and physical custody? Will that result in him having visitation rights?
Legal custody is either "joint legal custody" or "sole legal custody". What you ending up having will depend on what you and the father agree to or, if you can't agree, what a court orders. Physical custody can be "joint physical custody" or "sole physical custody with visitation awarded to the other parent". Again, what you end up with will depend on what you and the father agree to or, if you can't agree, what the court orders.
I was never married with my child's father he has never helped financially has seen her maybe four times has made promises about coming around but has not kept. She is now 13 if I file for full custody will I automatically get it? Also if child support is asked for how far back can we go. I live in California
Why file for "full custody"? You essentially have full custody if the father has seen the child only four times in 13 years. You can call the Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) in your county and the county will file an action to obtain child support for you. The services provided by DCSS are totally free. DCSS will file appropriate papers with the court to confirm parentage; get a child support order; and collect the child support for you. Child support will be retroactive to the date DCSS files its paperwork with the court. It can't be retroactive before the date papers are filed with the court asking for child support. Go to our website, and watch the 7 videos explaining all about child support. If you have questions about child custody, watch the child custody videos.
Can a foster mom terminate court order visits she said the social worker has told her that because she has filed a last minute order although we are court order
The social worker has already deceved us once by the reports during the investigation by removing key parts
I have question I was rewarded sole custody for our son but I have dv retraining order against my ex but he now starting to have alternate weekends they have I assume give him primary visitation.
Was that your first restraining order ?
@@devenwithtwoes5856 yes I file in 2019 now his dad awarded visitations MINOR COUNSEL all for him🤦
My daughter lives with me in Massachusetts but my daughters father lives in California. He never FaceTime our daughter nor does he comes to pick her up to bring back with him for the summer. What are the chances that I could fight in court in California for sole custody? Been to court 2 times in Fresno Ca and the judge clearly does not read any of the paper submit. Had to remind her she was the one to give me the ok to move back to my home state with our daughter. My ex will bring me to court and lie and make it seem like he wants all the time in the world with our daughter. Not too long after court hearing he has not contract not see out daughter in years. Does California take child custody case serious? I have my daughter wait every other day for her father to FaceTime her for him just to not call at all. What can I do?
It is unfortunate that oftentimes, judges do not read the paperwork (pleadings) that you file with the court prior to a hearing. Sometimes, the judges are too busy. Sometimes, the paperwork does not make it to the judge's chambers in time.
I'm not sure what you mean when you say you want "sole custody". Are you talking about sole "legal custody", sole "physical custody", or both? From your description, it sounds like the father is not taking much of an interest in your daughter. If the father has such little interest that he never uses FaceTime and does not take your daughter for summer visits, do you really need to travel to California and fight in court to limit or eliminate his legal and/or physical custody rights? If father pays child support and has some amount of regular contact and/or communication with a child, it would be extremely difficult to get a judge to eliminate the father's right's to physical custody (unless there are other circumstances such as abuse, neglect, or endangerment of the child).
They do not care they just issued a ex parte for my ex to leave on false grounds message me ill explain more
Thanks for sharing Do the sessions coat money
The custody mediation sessions that are mandated by the County in which you filed your divorce action, are free of charge to the public. I do believe however, that if you miss your session, the county may charge you a penalty to reschedule.
My ex spouse has been uncooperative with making sure I was served copies of the documents he was submitting. I never received a document explaining what the custody is and when the judge signed for dissolution. My ex has kept me in the dark . And blocking my calls and questions I have been asking what was going on with the divorce. He simply said we are divorced and he gets physical custody of our two kids. How did he get away with this? I don’t even know if there was any spousal support he had to pay or when exactly the divorce happened. What can I do at this point
Review your divorce file at the courthouse. Your divorce file will tell the entire story. If a divorce judgment was actually issued, the judgment will be in the file. The divorce judgment will set forth the orders issued by the court regarding child custody, child support, spousal support, property division, etc. Go to the court, ask where you go to see your divorce file, have the clerk pull your file and review it. I suggest you have the court clerk make a copy of the entire file so you can review it at home or show it to a lawyer. If you were never properly served with the Summons and Petition, then your spouse should not have been able to obtain a divorce judgment.
@@freedivorce4045 Thank you for the advice. I will definitely have to do that. Just knowing what a trickster and manipulative person he is.. I just don’t take not a single word as facts or truth. Not at all.
Once seeing the documents I’ll have more clarity what my next steps will be. Thank you 🙏
i was wondering if i could get legal advice. i have a cousin who turned four in january. We’ve had her since she was one. she was undergoing abuse, neglect, and her mother did drugs. My mom now wants to go for adoption because she just turned 4, but her mom does visit her. my mom is the legal guardian and had been for 3 years. the child is now stable, but we’re afraid we wont get to adopt her because her mom has visitation rights. but her mother isnt stable, lives off of her boyfriend who lives with his mom, and doesn’t even have a job. do you guys think we would get adoption considering how shes doing now and how long we have had her. btw she couldnt even talk when she was with her mom now her vocab is excelling.
I'm assuming the child resides in California. From your description of the situation, it sounds like the matter is pending in Juvenile Dependency Court, which is completely different from divorce court proceedings. A Juvenile Dependency Court can remove a child from a home if the child is the subject of abuse or neglect. Oftentimes, this can happen if both parents have serious addiction issues. The child will frequently be placed with a relative on a temporary basis with the hope that the biological parents will be able to deal with their issues and ultimately be reunited with the child. If the biological parents can not clean up their act, the Juvenile Dependency Court will eventually give up on reunification and adopt a permanent placement plan for the child. The court has the authority to terminate the parental rights of the biological parents, which would make adoption of the child possible. I do not know enough about the child's situation to assess the likelihood of an adoption. I suggest you read the "Guide to Dependency Court - For Parents" published on-line by California Courts at www.courts.ca.gov/1205.htm
I’m thinking of moving out of state because California has become too expensive. My ex and I never got married and never went to court but now he’s making things difficult. My son loves his father but would rather live with me and actually wants to move. Can he use things against me outside of these three topics? They are irrelevant but he claims he can make it relevant.
Court has always been a terrifying option because he’s good at manipulating a situation and I’m afraid I can lose.
It's hard to give a meaningful reply based on such limited information. How old is your son? How much time does your son spend in his father's physical custody? In what way is the father "making things difficult"? Move-away cases are some of the most difficult cases we encounter in Family Law. There are no good solutions. The child's relationship with one parent is going to be dramatically impaired and sometimes destroyed. Frequent visits help if the parents can afford the travel expenses and the child is old enough to handle long distance traveling. Oftentimes, the child's school schedule, participation in sports, and other social events, restrict how often exchanges of physical custody can occur. FaceTime helps, but is a poor substitute for in-person hugs. I have had fathers quit their jobs and move to wherever mom moved with the kids because their relationship with their children was the most important thing in their lives. Before you make a final decision about moving, carefully weigh the pros and cons of moving. If you decide to move, think about how you can structure a "visitation" plan that will, to the extent possible, maintain a strong relationship between your son and his father (i.e., frequent visits; regular phone calls; sharing photos/videos; keeping father informed about your son's schooling; etc.). If father is a reasonable person, think about trying to work out a parenting plan before you move. However, if father is someone you find to be extremely difficult to work with, you may want to consider just moving and dealing with the custody issues after the move. There is a constitutional right to travel in the United States. A court won't order you not to move. However, a court can issue an order awarding custody of your son to the father if you decide to move. However, an order changing primary physical custody is unlikely. You indicate that your son lives with you. It's unlikely a court will switch primary physical custody because of a proposed move (unless the main purpose of your move is to deprive father of contact with the child). If the matter is litigated, the court is going to primarily consider the best interests of the child. You indicate you have never been to court. If you have never been to court, there are no court orders giving the father any custody or visitation rights. Father would have to file a court proceeding (a Complaint to Establish a Parental Relationship) in order to establish his custodial or visitation rights. Since no court orders are currently in place, you can move with your son. If you suddenly pack up and move, father will likely have to litigate custody and visitation issues in whichever state you move to and that may be very difficult for him to do. Again, the above comments are based upon the limited information provided in your comment.
@@freedivorce4045 thank you so much for your reply.
We live in San Jose and I’m planning to move to Las Vegas in June. My son is 14. We have always done everything 50/50 they do have a good relationship.
He has a business here in San Jose. He’s been the primary since my son started 5th grade because Los Gatos has a better school system.. Since my first question he seems to have had a change of heart for the sake of us not ending up in a court battle that could potentially take months and hurt our son, he simply asks that I give him a fair schedule which is totally understandable..
My fear was that if I just leave that he could report it as kidnapping. Unless that’s only if the parent goes out of the country.
Thanks so much in advance
If you live in California they don’t care. He could go lie in court and they will still side with him. Judge don’t read any paper you submit. Just horrible. I live in MA but unfortunately I had my daughter in Fresno, CA after few months of living there. Good luck.
Hey I’m going through the same scenario I was wondering if you can share the outcome?
@@sunshine5129 i ended up not moving. His father was making things a little too difficult and but I also didn’t want my son to start sophomore year of high school at a new high school let alone state when he had no friends.
Especially in California: Why do I still owe support, when I have paid the amount that I was responsible for, the county of Los Angeles will not explain why I owe when I did not choose the amount to pay?
Contact DCSS for Los Angeles County and request an accounting. They will give you a written accounting that you can review and figure out why there is a discrepancy.