The answer may surprise you: not all parents who have sole physical custody of their children are legally considered
custodial parents in the eyes of the courts.
There is a growing and disturbing trend by Canadian courts to eliminate the distinction between sole custody with access and joint custody, by giving access parents almost the same rights
as custodial parents.
Further,
custodial parents who seek government benefits, such as welfare or food stamps, may be required to name the child's father and participate in child support enforcement actions.
In addition, there are restrictions
on custodial parents / guardians access to individual therapy notes regarding their children.
This model uses a calculator that takes the number of children and the monthly gross income of the
non custodial parent into account.
The sole
custodial parent makes all decisions concern school, friends, social activities — everything and anything touching the life of the child.
The
sole custodial parent does not need to obtain consent from the other parent before making these child - related decisions.
The other rationale for the court's decision was its belief that it was joining a nationwide trend towards
giving custodial parents a greater say in where to move children.
This takes the number of children as well as the monthly net income of both the non custodial and
custodial parent into account to figure out an amount.
To this day,
custodial parents applying for government assistance are asked to provide information about the location of the other parent for this purpose.
In some states, a statute will list factors that the judge must consider to determine who the most
suitable custodial parent is.
A number of
custodial parents worry about the ability to afford an attorney to help fight their case when they're fighting to make ends meet.
If a
military custodial parent is relocated, the court has to determine whether the parent and child are temporarily or permanently absent from the state.
Although custody laws vary among states, a child born to unmarried parents doesn't have a legal father until paternity is established, leaving the mother as the
automatic custodial parent.
Many other researchers have found connections between child welfare and having a financially secure and personally
stable custodial parent, and a home free from violence.
In my experience, these cases are the ones in which the court is most likely to impose criminal contempt sanctions
on custodial parents.
It's a misconception that
custodial parents don't have to pay child support — they just don't write a check for it to the other parent.
This decision comes at a significant cost to the
non custodial parent and it can be reflected by a decreased amount of child support.
These factors, along with a number of other factors, will be used by the court to determine who the
primary custodial parent should be.
These more significant decisions continue to be the exclusive responsibility of the parent who has been designated as the
sole custodial parent.
For example, children might live
with custodial parent Friday through Monday, and stay with the non-custodial parent Tuesday through Thursday.
If the parents do reach such an agreement, the noncustodial parent must sign IRS Form 8332, Release / Revocation of Release of Claim to Exemption for Child
by Custodial Parent and attach it to that parent's tax return.
In most instances, when a child's
custodial parent moves in with a new partner, remarries, or enters into a shared living arrangement, it will not affect the amount that a non-custodial parent pays.
The state gets a lot of money given to it by the feds for the amount of Child support collected simply because they do not need to pay out in welfare and food stamps
for custodial parents who do nt want to work or simply cant.
Basically the moving
custodial parent needs to notify the other parent that they intend to move and have a good reason to move that is not vindictive.
Public assistance funding under Title IV - A of the Social Security Act in
which custodial parent applicants are automatically referred to their state IV - D agency in order to identify and locate the non-custodial parent, establish parentage (paternity) and / or enforce a child support order for the purpose of assisting the state to recoup or defray some of its public assistance expenditures with funds from the non-custodial parent.
All 50 states and the United States federal government have laws to help
custodial parents get paid the child support they are owed and provide assistance to do it.
The Child Support Division of the Office of the Attorney General is available to
help custodial parents enforce child - support orders and collect regular and unpaid support payments.
If a court has terminated a parent's rights, he's no longer legally the child's parent; therefore, custody would not revert to him if the child's
custodial parent died.
Georgia does not
require custodial parents with a custody order in place to obtain permission from the other parent before relocating with their child, but it does require a relocating parent to give the other parent at least 30 days» notice of the proposed move.
The parenting plan splits time between the noncustodial parent and
custodial parent while still allowing the child to have a stable schedule.