The custody of your children can be one of the most important factors that will need to be settled during your divorce proceedings. Unfortunately, there are many people that will simply be unaware of uninformed about the process of granting custody to one parent or another. This can lead to individuals needing to have some important questions answered so that they will be ready and prepared for this part of the divorce process.

What Should You Do To Improve Your Chances Of Being Awarded Custody?

Parents will often feel immense stress at the start of the divorce proceedings due to concerns about them not being awarded custody of their children. As a result, these individuals may want to learn about what they can do to help strengthen their claim to custody. To this end, individuals will want to demonstrate stability to the court. While it can be easy to assume that this will only refer to financial stability, it is important to demonstrate emotional stability as well. Therefore, you should avoid placing yourself in situations that can easily lead to an uncontrolled escalation with the other spouse as they may attempt to use this against during these proceedings.

How Will Child Support Work?

The parent that is awarded custody of the children may be entitled to financial support from the other parent. When it comes to child support, the judge that presides over the divorce proceedings will be responsible for reviewing a range of factors to determine an appropriate amount that will need to be paid. While there may be state-level formulas that calculate these payments based on total income, it may also be necessary to consider other financial factors, such as debts. It can be common for these payments to be a source of dispute between the couple.

If you find yourself in a dispute over the child support payments, you should avoid attempting to take matters into your own hands. For example, some parents may withhold visitation until the child support debt is settled, but this can be a costly mistake as it could be possible to be arrested for violating the court's visitation order. Rather, you should refer these disputes to your attorney as they will know the procedures to follow to compel the other spouse to settle this debt.

Can You Move To Another State If You Have Custody Of The Children From The Marriage?

At some point, you may find that you are offered a new job in another state. Depending on the distance that will be involved in the move, you may need to negotiate the custody agreement to be able to move. This is necessary to protect the parental rights of the parent that lacks full custody.

For more information about child custody, speak to a lawyer at firms like Hertz & Kearns.