What Does It Actually Mean to Have Joint Legal Custody in North Carolina?

Child custody in North Carolina (and most states) legally involves two parts: legal and physical custody of your child. If you have legal custody of your child, you have the inherent right to make specific legal decisions. For example, you can make medical, educational, and religious decisions impacting your child’s life and upbringing.

Additionally, legal custody can be granted as joint (where you and your ex-spouse agree on the decisions together) or sole custody, where you would make these significant decisions independently.

That said, if you and your spouse have joint legal custody, you will commonly share equally in all the major decision-making for your child when your divorce is finalized.

Legally, joint physical custody is somewhat the same; after your divorce is final, you and your spouse will share in sheltering and providing a home for your child. However, in reality, this is hardly ever an actual 50/50 time split as job schedules, your child’s school access, and more often enter into the equation.

It would be best if you remembered that when the North Carolina court assesses requests for joint physical (or legal) custody, they will always base their decision on what’s in your child’s best interests, not yours.  

Joint custody is usually only allowed if you and your spouse wish to share your child’s well-being. Therefore, if joint custody is agreed upon and mandated by the court, it is usually as close to a 50/50 arrangement as realistically possible.

All divorces and custody cases differ; sometimes, for valid and realistic reasons, you may not want your ex-spouse to have joint legal custody over your child. If this situation arises, it’s up to you and your Greensboro child custody lawyer to make recommendations to the court and provide substantial facts supporting your request.

Let’s say your ex-spouse abuses alcohol or drugs; you, your lawyer, and the court may not wish to give significant legal rights to them to make critical decisions concerning your child’s life and future.

If valid reasons exist for denying a joint custody request, the facts involved are often complicated to present to the court; this is where your child custody lawyer’s experience, compassion, and knowledge will prove invaluable.

What Are Some Ways Parents Can Handle Child Custody in N. Carolina?

Many divorcing parents may feel that the only way to manage child custody issues successfully is through the court and going to trial. In reality, you and your ex-spouse can draft a solid and workable custody plan before you go to court in several different ways.

Just a few of these legal strategies are:

• Drafting a Consent Order – Consent orders can be drafted, proposed, and submitted to the North Carolina court. Parents can cooperate and agree on how joint custody (or another type) can work. You can draft these documents with the help of your skilled lawyers, and then they are signed by the judge and become official court orders. At that time, the consent order can be legally enforced and must be adhered to by both you and your spouse or face legal repercussions. If you and your spouse wish to manage your joint custody issue out of court, this is one of the most popular legal methods.
• Drafting a rational parenting plan – Parenting agreements are like consent orders and can be handled privately. Once again, the contract is drafted by you and your spouse, with the necessary help of your lawyer, and submitted to the court. Always note these agreements must always be in your child’s best interests. If not, the North Carolina judge can always refuse it. If all is well, the agreement will be filed as a court order.
• Planning a working child custody agreement – These agreements can be extremely detailed and contain more information than the other two examples. Additionally, they may not have to be filed with the court. Essentially, they are private contracts between you and your spouse and, therefore, may be more legally challenging to enforce if needed. Keep in mind, however, that these agreements are not court orders, and because of this, you and your spouse must be extremely clear as to what conditions may create a “breach of contract.” This is why, in many cases, these agreements are turned into consent orders; this makes them far more legally enforceable.

What Are Some Legal Standards the Judge May Use to Make Joint Custody Decisions?

Once again, when the court makes custody decisions, the best interests of your child are always paramount. That said, the North Carolina court will analyze numerous factors related to each parent and their relationship with their child. The court uses these facts to shed light on your and your spouse’s involvement, commitment, and ability to bring up a healthy, well-adjusted, and happy child.

This principle of what’s best for your child always serves as the guiding light in all custody cases.

However, just some of the other factors the court will consider are:

• The age and overall health of your child.
• The nature of the current relationship between you and your child.
• Any significant ties your child has to home, school, and community.
• You and your spouse’s overall ability to care for your child.
• Any negative issues, such as a history of family violence or substance abuse by you and your spouse.

As stated, each joint custody case differs, and the court will investigate all relevant factors before making a final decision. This is why thoroughly discussing your wishes, fears, and full disclosure of pertinent information with your empathetic, knowledgeable, and experienced child custody law team is critical to this process. If given all the relevant information, you and your passionate child custody lawyer can more effectively deal with the court and ensure your wishes are upheld.

What is Involved in Drafting a Parenting Agreement for Joint Custody?

All parents are fully aware that ending your marriage can have a tremendous impact on your child. Additionally, almost all parents want to limit these adverse effects as much as possible.

One of the main ways to limit this impact is straightforward: Resolve your custody issues and divorce as quickly and efficiently as possible. The longer you drag out a custody battle, the more significant the stress on your child becomes; this can become so bad that it negatively affects decades of your child’s future life.

One of the best ways to resolve custody issues quickly and efficiently is by creating a mutually agreed-upon consent order. By thoroughly enlisting the help of a qualified, compassionate, and highly trained child custody lawyer, you can best cooperate and draft the written agreement and have your lawyer submit it to the courts.

By resolving custody issues quickly, you, your spouse, and your child can benefit from several significant benefits: finalizing your divorce quicker, more cost-effectively, and with much less contention and stress for all involved, especially your child.

However, never underestimate the complexity of a well-thought-out parenting agreement, as most of the process takes place outside of court.

Therefore, both spouses and your lawyers must be committed to reaching a sound, rational, and working agreement. This is why enlisting the professional and detail-oriented help of a qualified, experienced collaborative divorce lawyer is mandatory if you want to ensure a bright future for you and your child.

I’m Divorcing and Wish to Draft a Parenting Plan for My Child; How Should I Proceed?

During a divorce, child custody is rarely a straightforward legal process to navigate effectively, and the more the court gets involved, the more your wishes could be overlooked or downright ignored.

Therefore, having professional, aggressive, and compassionate legal counsel draft a sound, rational parenting plan before you go to court is always the best way to protect your and your child’s rights.

The child custody lawyers at Kreider Attorneys at Law have a long and successful history of providing wise, professional, and service-oriented legal counsel to parents wishing to provide the best possible future for their children and themselves.

Call them today at 336-770-2017 for a full consultation on your unique child custody case. You’ll receive the professional, empathetic, and highly skilled legal guidance you must have to ensure a bright future for you and your child.