Custody dispute
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What is a custody dispute?
One of the most common types of family law disputes in divorce or separation is disputes concerning child custody, residence and visitation. The starting point for these disputes is in disputes over who should have the right to the accommodation that was previously shared. In such cases, a court must decide that the party who has the best need for the accommodation should have the right of retention.
In matters of child custody and visitation, a court must decide on the basis of the best interests of the child, taking into account the child’s need for close contact with his or her parents – and not the parents’ need for close contact with the child. A common starting point in assessing the best interests of the child is that it is in the best interests of the child that the parents can agree on visitation and custody issues. However, parents may often find that the other parent has a different view of what is best for the children. If the parents cannot agree, a custody or visitation dispute is sometimes taken to court.
What does a court decide in a custody dispute?
According to the Act on Child Custody, Residence and Visitation, the child’s situation should be divided into three aspects. Two parents can have either joint custody or shared custody. Whoever has custody of a child can decide where the child will live and go to school during the time the child is under 18. When it comes to living arrangements, the child can live partly with both parents or live entirely with one parent. If the child lives permanently with one parent, the child should meet the other parent, who does not have the child living with them.
When the court decides on a custody dispute, it is these three aspects that the court decides about a child: custody, residence and visitation. The child can therefore either live permanently with one parent, or live half the time with one parent and half the time with the other. If the child lives permanently with one parent, the child has the right to contact with the other parent. In both cases, custody of the child may be shared between the two parents, or one parent may have sole custody but the child still has the right to contact with the other parent.
Unfortunately, this has turned into more about what the parents are entitled to regarding the child, and less about what is right for the child. Here it is important that the court really takes into account the rights of the child, and the best interests of the child and lets the child’s voice be heard.
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