Child Custody | Pennsylvania Family Law Blog - The Law Offices of Sheryl R. Rentz - Part 4
Why Would a Parent Have Temporary Custody in PA?
When you and your spouse have decided to separate, there will be many different matters to discuss and many decisions to be made, such as possession of the marital home, car, spousal support, and child custody. These issues may take months to resolve before the separation can be made legal. If children are involved in the separation, a temporary custody order is designed to address this matter to ensure that they are not adversely affected by the changes in their family situation.
Traveling Out of the Country with your Child and Post-Divorce Custody
Planning a vacation with your family is an exciting time. Everyone looks forward to getting out of town, particularly if you’ve decided to travel overseas. It can also be a great learning experience for your children. But if you have a divorced family situation, you may have certain stipulations within your custody agreement regarding guidelines you must follow before you take your children on a trip.
How the Holidays Can Impact Parenting Time
The holidays are meant to be a time when families come together. Unfortunately, if are going through a divorce and/or share joint custody of your children with an ex, then the holidays can be depressing, stressful, confusing, and, in the worst cases, combative.
Even under the best circumstances, going through a divorce is extremely difficult. That is particularly true when children are involved. Parents often find that while they have mutually agreed on many aspects of their split, when it comes to the particulars, such as who gets custody of the children for which holiday, their dispute can become quite contentious.
No one wants to be away from their children during family holidays. And while the biggest holidays, such as Christmas and Thanksgiving, will get the most attention, custody rights for even smaller holidays, such as Halloween or Memorial Day, will create a lot of strife.
Child Custody in Pennsylvania Divorce
Almost half of our nation’s states are taking steps toward allowing more children to grow up with both parents in their lives after parents split. Currently, 20 states are considering measures that would change the laws governing which parent gets legal and physical control of a child after a divorce. Read the rest »
Custody Rights About to Change in Pennsylvania
Under current Pennsylvania law, a convicted rapist can maintain parental rights over a child conceived through rape. Many believe that this is a large loophole in Pennsylvania law that must be closed before it hurts more sexual assault survivors. According to a WESA 90.5 news report, State Senator Randy Vulakovich and Representative Joe Hackett are introducing the Rape Survivor Child Custody and Support Act. If their bill becomes law, courts will have the authority to terminate the parental rights of a convicted rapist while preserving the rapist’s obligation to pay child support. This means that convicted rapists will remain financially responsible for the child, but they will not be granted parental rights. Read the rest »
Do Grandparents Have the Right to Child Custody in Pennsylvania?
Many Pennsylvania grandparents play a significant role in the lives of their grandchildren. Some are primary caretakers and many have regular contact with their grandchildren including long visits and holiday celebrations. During a divorce, the parents will have to negotiate custody rights and their terms may not include rights for the grandparents. It is important in these types of situations for grandparents to learn about their legal rights and options.
The Child Custody Act went into effect in Pennsylvania in 2011. It allows grandparents to file for custody of a grandchild. For a grandparent to request sole custody of a grandchild, he or she must: Read the rest »
Increasing Number of Single-Parent Households Headed by Fathers
According to the Pew Research Center, the number of single father households in the U.S. has steadily increased during the past few decades, from 1% in 1960 to at least 8% in 2011. The most notable explanations for the shift include the rising trend of non-marital births, as well as the consistent rate of divorce in recent years.
However, some experts suggest that changes in the current legal system and an overall evolution of how society views fatherhood to also be considerable factors in this growing trend.
Surviving the Summer Child Custody Transition
Divorced families often face a unique situation during the summertime, especially when the parents live far apart. In such cases, it is not uncommon that one parent may have custody of the children throughout the school year, while the other may have custody over the summer break.
Making the transition from one household to the other for a few months can be awkward for everyone involved, but there are ways in which the “school year parent” can help the children make the summer switch. Read the rest »
Tips to Make Co-Parenting Easier
Negotiating custody arrangements during a divorce can be a major point of contention between spouses, particularly because child custody has often meant that one parent is given the majority of responsibility for the children while the other is given limited involvement as a non-custodial parent. In recent years, more and more parents are choosing to share custody in an effort to ensure that both parents get to raise the children.
However, as children divide the days and weeks between each parent, moving back and forth between households, joint custody has its share of disadvantages. Many divorced parents may find that when they create an equal custody arrangement, they run the risk of becoming part-time parents, equally struggling to play full-time roles in their children’s lives. Read the rest »
U. S. Supreme Court Decides in Favor of American Father in Custody Dispute
United States Supreme Court Justice Roberts, in a recently written opinion, returned a decision regarding an international custody dispute in favor of an American father. As reported in The Huffington Post and published on March 5, the Court held that American federal courts’ jurisdiction does not terminate just because the child has been returned to another country. No longer can a child be taken from his or her home to a different country thereby escaping American state and federal courts.
The Court’s ruling indicated that just because a child crosses U.S. boundaries does not mean that the custody of that child falls outside U.S. courts’ jurisdiction. Read the rest »
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