If you are currently going through a divorce, you are probably worried about its outcome. Particularly, you are probably wondering how child custody rights and parent visitation plans will be determined in your divorce.
Although Utah’s child custody laws are complicated and somewhat confusing, there a couple of tricks that you can put to use in order to improve your chances of obtaining favorable custody rights. For this reason, we invited our Salt Lake City child custody attorney to spill the beans on what really matters when it comes to seeking child custody rights.
Be positive and fair
Since Utah family courts prioritize the child’s best interests, they are inclined to award primary child custody rights to the parent who is more likely to ensure a loving and positive environment living with the child. Courts also consider which parent is more interested in frequent and positive contact with the child.
Our Salt Lake City child custody lawyer from the Emy A Cordano, Attorney At Law explains what it means: avoid making baseless allegations against the other parent (for example, unfounded allegations of domestic or child abuse), and do not attempt to forbid the other parent to see your child unless you have a valid reason to do so or if you have a court order allowing you to forbid parent visitation and restrict the custody. In other words, Utah family courts view very unfavorably parents who attempt to prohibit the other parent from seeing the child.
Continuity and stability
This goes far beyond your family values. In order to have better chances of obtaining favorable child custody rights in a divorce, it is vital to maintain continuity and stability in a child’s environment and needs. In addition to your established patterns of care, it would also help to sort out your life in a way that looks stable and balanced to judges.
Meaning: avoid sudden business trips, leaving Salt Lake City or Utah (or even the country) without telling your child and the other parent, changing jobs too frequently, etc.
Health and safety concerns
As we have mentioned earlier, Utah courts award child custody rights based on the child’s best interests. This means that the child’s health and safety plays a huge role when it comes to determining child custody in Salt Lake City and elsewhere in Utah.
For example, the court will most likely deny or limit custody or visitation for a parent who has been previously convicted of murder, child abuse, and domestic violence. Also, if the other parent can prove that you have problems with drugs or alcohol, this may become a major factor that puts your child custody rights at risk. This is because drug use and alcohol abuse can negatively affect the child’s health and safety.
Do not make mistakes
This may sound quite generic and obvious, yet so many parents in Utah underestimate the importance of cleaning up their act during a divorce. You may want to avoid creating evidence that your spouse could use against you in court in order to take away your child.
Our Salt Lake City child custody attorney says that even an Instagram photo of you getting wasted in a nightclub may play a role in the court deciding in favor of your spouse. So be careful about what you post on your Instagram, Twitter, Facebook (or other social media platforms), and avoid leaving behind evidence in real life that may paint you in a bad light.
Prepare for your spouse’s arguments against you
More likely than not, your child custody battle will get ugly. This means your spouse may bring up all kinds of arguments to hurt your chances of obtaining child custody rights. If there is anything unfavorable about you that your spouse may use against you in court, seek the legal advice of a child custody lawyer in order to prepare a strong legal strategy and secure desired custody rights.
Only an experienced attorney from the Emy A Cordano, Attorney At Law will layout a personalized and effective plan for you to obtain child custody rights. Get more tips from our best lawyers in Utah by calling our offices at (801) 901-8159 or complete our contact form. We offer a legal consultation.