Child Custody: custody, parenting time - no need for breakdown
If you’re going through a divorce or separation and have children, navigating child custody and parenting time can be particularly challenging.
In this section, we’ve compiled educational material and resources that cover topics such as legal custody, physical custody, shared custody, GALs, when children have a say in where they live, factors considered by courts when determining custody and parenting time, and how to develop a parenting plan that works for you and your family.
By familiarizing yourself with this information, you can approach this difficult process with greater confidence and ensure that your children’s needs are always at the forefront of your decisions.
Articles Related Child Custody
- What are the benefits of primary physical custody?
- What are the reasons for sole legal custody?
- Tips On Getting Custody Of Your Child
- The Danger of Coddling Your Kids
- Child Custody Lawyer
- Massachusetts Child Custody Basics
- Living at the marital home is awful, will leaving affect my divorce?!
- Is it selfish to put yourself before your kids?
- How Can I Get Sole Custody in Massachusetts?
- Don’t hate your ex more than you love your kids.
- Child Relocation
- Child Visitation
- At what age can a child become emancipated?
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My spouse is impossible, should I leave the house with my kids?
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Child Custody FAQ's
Yes, 50/50 custody may still require a child support payment. In a shared physical custody arrangement (50/50), child support is calculated with running the calculation first with one parent as the primary caretaker, then with the other parent as the primary caretaker. You then subtract the smaller number from the larger, and the difference is the presumptive child support amount the higher earning parent will pay the other.
60/40 child custody refers to the breakdown in parenting time. The parent with 60% of the parenting time will usually be considered the primary care parent. This becomes an issue in child support because although there’s a unique calculation for shared physical custody (50/50), the standard calculation is used for 60/40, which may not be fair as 40% of parenting time is a significant amount. However, the judge can deviate from the suggested child support amount if necessary to arrive at a fair amount.
You may have to pay child support even if you have joint custody. When parenting time is approximately equal between parents (50/50), the courts use what’s called a “cross-guidelines” calculation for child support. Essentially they calculate child support once with one parent as the primary caretaker, then the other, then subtract the lower result from the higher, and that’s typically the amount that the higher earner has to pay the other. A child support calculator will automatically do this math when the option for shared physical custody is chosen.
70/30 child custody refers to the percentage of parenting time breakdown between the parties, in which the primary care parent has the child 70% of the time, and the other parent 30%. This parenting time breakdown typically results in a “full guidelines” child support amount, which is generally ordered on cases in which the parenting time is roughly 2/3 to 1/3.
In many cases, it happens to be that the mother has been the primary caretaker of the children and therefore, it’s in the best interest of the children that she continue in that role. However, the courts are increasingly willing to grant fathers shared and even full custody. The courts must focus on what’s in the best interest of the child and the gender of the parents is not a factor in that analysis.
There’s no mechanism I know of to measure this statistic. However, father’s are more likely than ever before to gain custody of a child. First, courts are obligated to do what’s in the best interest of the child regardless of the parent’s gender. So if a father is the best fit to be the primary care parent, the courts are increasingly likely to order that. In the last few decades, women have been increasingly more productive in the workforce, and there are fewer families in which the mother is solely dedicated to caring for the children as was very common in the past. Therefore, the percentage of fathers who have custody seems to be on the rise.
Kidnapping in MA is a crime, and technically, it’s keeping someone or forcing the person to go somewhere against the person’s will. So there can be kidnapping with or without a custody order. A different, but related issue is when a parent wants to move out of state with a child, which is “removal,” and is discussed below.
Police officers generally try to stay out of family law disputes. If a crime is being committed by one of the parents, the officer can take action. However, when there are disagreements about parenting time and related issues, the officer will usually tell the parties that they must address the issue in family court.
A parent generally cannot permanently remove a child out of state without either a court order or consent of the other parent. If that issue is raised, the court will determine whether removal out-of-state is in the best interest of the child. If there’s shared custody, it’s generally more difficult for the moving parent to convince a court that the child should move.
