NY Child Custody and Visitation

Saratoga Springs Family Law Firm Helps Clarify Custody and Visitation Issues

Upstate New York Attorney Concentrates on Children

Divorce is tough on children, who may live exclusively with one parent or the other after a divorce, or frequently go back and forth between two different homes. If your family is dealing with custody and visitation issues, the New York family law attorneys at the Law Offices of Gerard V. Amedio, P.C. can assist you in putting together an arrangement that will be in the best interests of your children.

Custody and Visitation – What’s the Difference?

Child custody is the legal relationship between a parent and a child. In New York, there are two different types of custody:

• Legal custody, which dictates which parent has the right to make important decisions about the child’s life, such as where they will attend, school, church, and who will provide medical care to them.
• Physical custody, or the parent the child primarily lives with.

Visitation is the right a parent has to spend time with his children, even though he may not have physical or legal custody of them. The non-custodial parent can almost always get frequent and meaningful visitation, with a typical schedule being every other weekend, every other holiday, and if the parents live close to each other, nights in the middle of the week. Courts usually grant overnight visitation unless the non-custodial parent does not have a safe place for the child to stay.

How Custody and Visitation Are Determined

When determining child custody, courts in New York tend to favor joint custody where parents share physical and legal custody of the child. However, if the court believes that a child is not safe with one parent, it may grant sole custody to the other parent. If one parent is awarded sole custody of a child, the other will almost always be given visitation unless it is determined that it would be bad for the child.

In most custody and visitation cases, the court will appoint an attorney for the child. This attorney will speak with the child and with the parents and then advocate for what is best for the child, even if the parents do not agree. The court may consider where a child wants to live, but is not bound to follow the child’s wishes, although the older the child, the more strongly the court will consider his request.

We Care About the Best Interests of Your Children

Protecting children should be the major concern among those making custody and visitation decisions, and skilled attorneys like those at the Law Offices of Gerard V. Amedio, P.C. have the experience necessary to develop legal arrangements that will nurture your children. Contact us online or call (518) 583-4123 to set up an initial consultation at our office in Sarasota Springs.