Child Custody Lawyer in Leesburg, VA

If you are facing a divorce that involves minor children or are going through a breakup with your children’s other parent, the matter of child custody is of critical importance. The State of Virginia bases all child custody determination on the children’s best interests, which (except under extreme circumstances) means having both parents play a significant role in their lives. Reach out for the skilled legal guidance of an experienced Leesburg child custody lawyer at Bristle Schulze today.

Your Children’s Best Interests in Leesburg

When it comes to child custody, Virginia courts focus solely on the children’s best interests. The state does, however, support frequent and ongoing contact with both parents when it serves the children’s best interests. The kinds of best interest factors that can directly affect your child custody terms include the following:

• The age, developmental stage, needs, and overall mental and physical health of each child
• Each parent’s overall mental and physical health, as well as their ability to effectively address their children’s needs
• The strength of the relationship between each parent and each child, which is partially based on each parent’s level of involvement with raising them to date
• Each parent’s commitment to supporting the other’s close and ongoing relationship with the children
• Each parent’s commitment to co-parenting together effectively

Child custody cases are legally and emotionally challenging, which makes having professional legal representation on your side advisable.

Physical Custody

Physical custody determines when the children are with one parent or the other. There are three basic options.

Joint Physical Custody

Joint physical custody means that the children split their time between both parents. While this does not necessarily mean that the parents will receive exactly the same amount of time with the kids, it can.

Primary Physical Custody

In some cases, one parent takes on the primary custodial role. This means that the children live with that parent more than half the time. Assigning one parent primary physical custody is often a function of the parent filling the role of the primary caregiver during the marriage. Having a schedule that allows the parent to spend more time with the children can also support a primary physical custody ruling.

Sole Custody

Sole custody is reserved for those cases in which there is a clear reason for limiting the other parent’s visitation with the children. While a parent will only be denied visitation in extreme cases, supervision is sometimes required.

Legal Custody

Legal custody grants decision-making authority over primary parenting issues like the following:

• Health care
• Schooling
• Religious education
• Extracurriculars and travel

Legal custody can be sole or joint.

Consult with an Experienced Leesburg, VA, Child Custody Attorney Today

The dedicated Leesburg child custody lawyers at Bristle Schulze appreciate the significance of your child custody case and will spare no effort in support of your rights as a parent. We are on your side and here to help, so please don’t wait to reach out by contacting us online or giving our firm a call at 703-454-0701 today.