Alameda County Child Custody Lawyers
Child custody is one of the hardest and most highly contested areas of a family law case. It is California public policy that minor children have frequent and continuing contact with both parents. Parents are encouraged to share the rights and responsibilities of child rearing, except when that contact would not be in the child’s best interests.
The judge cannot make a determination of custody based on the gender of the parent. Nor can the judge make a determination of custody based on the finances of one parent compared to the other.
Generally, teenagers’ expressed preferences about custody are considered by courts, while those of younger children may not be.
Mandatory Mediation in Custody Cases
Whenever child custody and visitation are at issue in a case, the court requires the parents to participate in mediation prior to any hearing on the subject. The court does provide free mediation to the parents, but the parents have the option of private mediation instead. Parents are often happier with private mediation, as they have more time to try to resolve their disputes amongst themselves.
If agreements are reached in mediation, the court typically makes those agreements the order of the court. If agreements are not reached, the mediator typically makes recommendations to the court, and the court typically adopts those recommendations, but will first hear arguments from the parents as to why those recommendations should or should not be followed.
What is in the best interests of the Child?
The standard for making determinations about child custody and visitation is what is in the best interests of the child. Once an order is made, if one parent wants to change that order, they must show a change in circumstances.
Typically, prior to a trial wherein a final determination on the issues of child custody and visitation is made, the court makes temporary orders and has the parties back to mediation and court every three months or so to review how the temporary orders are working.
Issues Unique to Custody and Visitation Cases
Some issues that may come up in child custody and visitation cases include move away orders, supervised visitation, drug or alcohol testing requirements for one or both parents, whether legal custody of the child should be joint, and who should be the primary parent (i.e. the parent whom the child lives with most of the time).
Courts prefer not to micromanage parenting, and encourage parents to reach their own agreements to any child custody and visitation issues whenever possible.
If you think we may be able to help you with your child custody or visitation matter, please call us at (510) 465-1906 or write to us using the form on the left side of this page.
We look forward to hearing from you.