When you have a family with children, divorce proceedings can truly take a toll on you. No matter how amicable the divorce may start off, the situation is highly likely to spiral into a custody battle for the children, pitting you and your spouse at opposite ends of the ring. More often than not, couples try to keep things civil by speaking to a divorce lawyer and figuring out how they can co-parent. However, when the relationship is a toxic or harmful one, then it’s natural for you to want sole custody of the children.
If you have been considering a divorce and fighting for custody, the one thing that may be stopping you from going ahead is the fear of losing the ability to see your children and make decisions that impact their lives. Perhaps you’ve heard people say that most judges rule in favour of the mother getting custody, perhaps you’ve heard the opposite! The truth is that the gender of the child does not always play a role in custody decisions, and there are a lot of different factors that can impact the same. Let’s go through all of these factors!
5 factors to consider when opting for child custody
Some of the factors that influence child custody decisions are as follows:
- How old is the child? The age of the child can impact the custody decision. It is common for judges to rule in favor of the mother if the child is still breastfeeding. In some cases, joint custody is awarded when the child is young.
- How is your relationship with the child? The judge will evaluate whether the child has a stronger bond with the father or the mother before ruling in favor of one or the other. This is done to guarantee that the youngster is happy.
- How is your physical and mental health? The health of the parent can also play a big role in influencing custody decisions. Parents with substance abuse problems or serious mental health conditions that are likely to endanger the child are not given custody, unless their recovery and rehabilitation is on a good track.
- Where do you live? If a parent lives in an area that is not considered safe for children, they may not get custody of the child due to safety reasons.
- What is your financial situation? Finally, another major factor that plays a role in whether or not you get custody is your financial situation. As you know, taking care of a child requires a fair bit of money and if you are unable to make ends meet, then the judge may grant custody in favor of the other parent who can.
Apart from these factors, what truly impacts custody decisions is the efficacy of your lawyers. In such cases, getting in touch with the experienced child custody lawyers is the right approach.