Franklin Child Custody Lawyers

Child custody cases can address child custody arrangements upon divorce or among parents who were never married, and child custody modifications after the fact are also common. Your child custody terms will directly affect your rights as a parent and your relationship with your child. Working closely with a team of experienced Franklin child custody lawyers, like those at McNeelyLaw LLP, is an excellent way to protect these rights.  

Your Responsibilities as a Parent

In Indiana, child custody is divided into legal and physical custody. Legal custody refers to decision-making responsibilities, while physical custody refers to where the child will live and spend time.

Legal Custody 

As a parent, you have immense responsibilities related to raising and providing for your children, and a major part of this is making primary decisions on their behalf. This is known as legal custody. The categories of decisions involved include: 

• Decisions about schooling
• Decisions about healthcare
• Decisions about extracurriculars and travel
• Decisions about religion 

You and your children’s other parent can make these decisions together (the way most parents do when they are married), but other options include: 

• Making these decisions together, but one of you has the ability to break a tie (once you’ve exhausted your negotiation options)
• Dividing these decisions between you according to their category
• Assigning this decision-making responsibility to one of you alone

When it comes to those day-to-day decisions that regularly arise, the parent who is in charge of the kids at the time is responsible for making them, and emergency decisions must be made by the parent who is most readily available.  

Physical Custody and Parenting Time

In Indiana, physical custody can be sole, meaning the child lives with one parent only, or joint, meaning the child splits time living with both parents. The time spent with the non-custodial parent is known as parenting time, and it is determined by a parenting schedule (when your kids are with you in your home and when they are with their other parent). Indiana courts have standard parenting time schedules they may defer to when they’re required to intervene on the matter of child custody during a parental rights or divorce case. However, if you and your child’s other parent are able to negotiate mutually acceptable terms, you can arrange whatever schedule works for you. Working with skilled Franklin child custody lawyers can be highly valuable in these instances.

The factors the court takes into careful consideration when assigning parenting time schedules include all the following: 

• Each child’s unique needs, including any special needs
• Each parent’s preference
• Each child’s preference (if mature enough to offer one)
• Each parent’s level of participation in raising the children to this point
• The overall mental and physical health of each parent and each child
• The children’s level of adjustment to their current living situation (in terms of their home, their schools, and the community at large)
• Each parent’s ability and desire to engage in cooperative parenting with the other
• Each parent’s ability and desire to support the children’s ongoing relationship with the other 
• Any other factors deemed pertinent by the court

Our Experienced Franklin Child Custody Lawyers Can Help

The compassionate Franklin child custody lawyers at McNeelyLaw LLP are highly experienced in family law matters and well-prepared to advocate for the parental rights of clients like you. Your case is important, so please don’t hesitate to reach out and contact us for more information today.