About Child Custody
Open, cooperative, constructive, professional
Parents play the most important role in the lives of their children. That’s why, at Divorce Mediation Group, we place a great emphasis on seeking child custody solutions that protect the parent-child relationship.
We often encourage our clients to take a proactive and common-sense approach to child custody. We help them make smart decisions that help courts find in their favor, fighting hard to get the results that our clients — and their children — can live with.
We mediate child custody issues across Hampden County including Springfield, Agawam, West Springfield, Longmeadow, East Longmeadow, Westfield, Chicopee, Northampton, Holyoke, Wilbraham, Palmer, and communities throughout Massachusetts.
Focused on the Best Interests of the Child
In matters of child custody, the law focuses on the best interests of the child. Courts look at the facts of each case and consider a series of factors, including the child’s relationship with each parent, the child’s home situation, and, if the child is old enough, the child’s wishes.
Courts consider both physical and legal custody:
- Physical custody: Physical custody is where the child will live. Physical custody can be called joint or sole custody. If custody is roughly proportionate, most courts call it joint physical custody. Where custody is more dispassionate, one parent has sole physical custody with the other parent having temporary custody and visitation rights. In joint physical custody cases, the court selects a residential parent for school and mailing purposes.
- Legal custody: Legal custody is the power to make major decisions in the child’s life. These include decisions about education, health care, and religious upbringing. Courts prefer to give parents joint legal custody unless there are special circumstances, like alcoholism, drug use, the parents being unable to co-parent effectively, or family violence.
Divorce Mediation is a much less stressful emotional experience than the traditional divorce process. Working together with a skilled mediator in a negotiation process results in much less animosity and ill will than the protracted confrontation that may occur between adversarial lawyers and their clients. The shortened time duration of the process as well as the considerably lower cost of mediation, also contribute to a lower level of emotional stress.
