Child Custody Lawyer in Austin, TX
Going through an issue with your child custody can be hard to do on your own, especially if the other person in the custody battle has a good lawyer. That being said, you should always seek out a child custody lawyer like the ones available at Yearin Law Offices.
A child custody lawyer can help you advocate for yourself during mediation, from attempting to become your child’s primary caregiver, to guiding you through paperwork, representing your case to the court, and negotiating child support rates if that’s what it takes.
You may be confused on whether you need a child custody lawyer and that’s okay. If you have recently undergone a divorce or separation, a lawyer that focuses on child custody may be necessary because not everyone in divorces can agree on custody, and divorce lawyers don’t always have the necessary knowledge to handle custody battles.
If there is any doubt about who the children will live with and who supports them, you’ll want to get a child custody lawyer that you trust to work on your case. In Texas child custody cases are divided into two categories: conservatorship, which talks about the rights and duties of the parents, such as making decisions for the child’s medical care, psychiatric care and schooling; or possess and access, which focuses on when the parents have physical custody of the child or when visitation may occur.
Conservatorship may be done in multiple ways. Sometimes one parent is allowed to make all the decisions—this is known as sole managing conservatorship, or both parents may make decisions together, known as joint managing conservatorship.
Furthermore, Texas has two statutory possession, and access schedules—standard and extended standard. These schedules dictate the time each parent spends with the child. The parties involved can agree on different possession and access schedules based on their needs or the court may order different schedules based on the child’s interest.
When determining the rights and duties of the parents, the court will decide what is in the best interest for the child and this considers a number of factors. The court may consider evidence relating to physical or emotional needs, physical and emotional danger, stability of the home, plans for the child, the cooperation between the parents, which parent is and was the primary caregiver, the child’s preferences (if over 12), geographic proximity of the children, whether they want to keep siblings together, false reports of child abuse and so much more.
Those factors are especially useful for your lawyer; if you’re trying to get awarded the right to designate the primary residence and possession and access of the child, your lawyer will need to go through everything in your life to find anything the court may use to try and prove you are not fit to be the primary caregiver. That way they can make a defense up to help you get what you want.