New Jersey Child Custody Attorneys
Children’s security and emotional support throughout the divorce process are critical. The separation of parents is a wrenching experience for children of any age. Careful planning and sensitivity regarding their development, education and relationships with both parents is essential. You can be sure that child custody and parenting time agreements are carefully developed with an experienced New Jersey child custody and divorce lawyer as your advocate.
At Cipriano Law Offices, P.C., in West Caldwell, we provide personalized and attentive service from day one. Our legal team understands how important your relationship with your child is to you. Child custody disputes can involve emotional responses and a feeling of lost control over the circumstances. When facing divorce, it is important for you to understand the processes and details that surround New Jersey child custody and parenting time determinations.
We stand strong in negotiations or in the courtroom, when necessary, to help our clients obtain favorable solutions to child custody arrangements. Make the decision to find out how our experienced West Caldwell child custody and parenting time lawyers can fight to protect your interests in family court; call 973-852-3346 to request a confidential consultation.
How New Jersey Courts Determine Child Custody And Parenting Time
New Jersey statutes regarding child custody are complex. New Jersey child custody and parenting time law includes distinctions between joint legal custody and sole legal custody. These issues involve determining who will make the important decisions regarding raising the children. When one parent holds sole legal custody, the court orders may outline parenting time for the noncustodial parent for either unsupervised or supervised time with the child.
Meanwhile, physical child custody determines where the child will live and how time will be divided through primary or shared residential custody arrangements. If the parents cannot work out a custody plan on their own, the judge will have to intervene. The judge’s primary consideration is the children’s best interests. Factors the court will consider when deciding a physical custody order include:
- The level of stability each parent is able to offer at their home
- Any history of domestic violence involving either parent
- Ability to maintain continuity and quality in the children’s education
- Each parent’s relationship with the children
- The parents’ ability to work together as co-parents
- The children’s preferences, if they are old and mature enough to form an intelligent opinion
It is important to work with a legal team that understands all of the nuances of the family law and New Jersey child custody statutes. Our lawyers have substantial experience across the spectrum of parenting time and child custody issues. The depth and breadth of our experience are important attributes of our family law and divorce services.
Child custody and parenting time are delicate parts of the family law case, and the best interests of the children are paramount. We can help you understand the differences between physical and legal custody and between sole and shared parenting-time agreements, as we fight to obtain the most favorable child custody order on your behalf.
Our family law attorneys create parenting-time plans that consider your desires and support the best interests of children while fostering strong family bonds. By working closely with you and providing personalized, tailored legal services, we can maximize the likelihood of achieving your child custody, visitation and parenting time-sharing goals.
What Are The Different Types Of Child Custody Arrangements In New Jersey?
As we discussed above, there is actually more than one type of child custody. Physical child custody refers to the child’s living arrangements and how much time each parent gets to spend with them. Legal child custody means the right to make important decisions about the child’s upbringing, such as where the child goes to school and who their pediatrician is.
There are two basic forms of physical custody:
- Sole custody, where the child lives with one parent full-time and the other parent has no visitation rights. This is often the decision when one parent is absent or unfit to care for the child. The noncustodial parent could also lose their legal custody rights.
- Joint custody, which is where the parents share physical custody. Joint custody can take many forms, from a 50/50 split to the child spending most of their time with one parent, while the other parent gets regular visitation time. The way parents share joint custody depends on factors unique to their family, such as the children’s schooling needs and how far apart the parents live.
Your parental rights matter to you, and to us. We will work toward a solution that benefits your children and honors your rights.
What Happens If A Parent Relocates?
Relocation of a child, either outside a certain radius from your current address in New Jersey or outside the state, is a difficult decision for a parent. It is also an issue that arises frequently during or after a divorce. One parent may seek to move away with a child due to job demands or other reasons. The other parent may claim that the move is only for the convenience of the relocating parent, designed to adversely impact the parenting rights of the objecting parent, or the move will not serve the best interests of the child in some other way.
We will fight hard to ensure that our clients do not lose precious time with their children in the signed child custody order. We protect the rights of our client, as well as the best interests of their children.
Why Choose A Child Custody Lawyer From Cipriano Law Offices, P.C.?
We can often come to satisfactory parenting agreements in the process of mediation, and we also assist clients in agreement modifications. Our founding lawyer, Melissa Cipriano, is a skilled parenting coordinator who frequently smooths the communication between parents as an objective third-party neutral to help them reach appropriate child custody and parenting time agreements. She is also highly experienced in family law arbitration, both as an arbitrator and in representing clients. The depth and breadth of our knowledge of the available methods of resolving custody, visitation and parenting issues in New Jersey allows us to anticipate issues and provide real-world solutions that put your children’s well-being first.
When representing one of the spouses in contested child custody matters, our legal team serves as staunch advocates to protect the rights of our clients and serve the best interests of the children. When domestic violence is also an issue, our legal team is prepared to fight for clients in both domestic violence restraining order matters and child custody disputes.
Get Careful And Attentive Child Custody Representation
Our child custody and parenting time lawyers know how to prepare and present cases before judges throughout northern New Jersey. Based in West Caldwell, we frequently appear in courtrooms in Essex, Bergen, Passaic and Union counties, as well as throughout the region. Schedule your appointment today by calling 973-852-3346 or emailing the firm.