Divorce can be stressful enough, but when children are involved, anxiety can grow even greater, making it difficult to think clearly and make rational decisions regarding custody. That’s why it’s so important to hire experienced joint custody lawyers.
The Law Office of Gary M. Abrams is staffed with joint custody lawyers specializing in family law and child custody. We can:
- Help you understand and protect your rights
- Assist in creating a positive resolution for you and your children in joint custody cases
- Skillfully represent you and your interests in a court of law
- Help ensure that your child’s needs are met
As experienced joint custody lawyers for central Massachusetts, we understand that child custody and support issues often arise when a couple goes through a divorce and can be contentious. It can cause an unnecessary amount of turmoil and anxiety for all parties involved – especially the children. Seasoned joint custody attorneys such as those in the Law Office of Gary M. Abrams are skilled at minimizing conflict and focusing attention on the children and their needs.
If you and your spouse can come to an agreement on child custody and visitation on your own, it is common in family law for the court to honor this agreement. However, if you cannot reach an agreement – and this happens more often than not — the court will create a child custody plan based upon “the best interests of the child” legal standard. The court considers several factors to determine what child placement situation is best for the child. The court will take into account a parent’s ability to provide for the child’s needs, the health of the parents, and the preference of the child.
As joint custody lawyers, we help our family law clients understand that both parents retain important rights in a joint custody arrangement. If a court awards joint legal custody, both parents have input with respect to decisions on important matters such as the child’s legal status, medical care, education, religious instruction and extracurricular activities. However, the child will reside primarily with one parent.
In a joint physical custody arrangement, both parents have the right to a significant amount of actual time with the child. This means that the child will spend approximately the same amount of time with each parent. It may not be exactly equal but it will be close.
If you’d like to learn more about joint custody and our family law services, contact the joint custody lawyers at the Law Office of Gary M. Abrams.