What are the Basic Rights of Children in a Divorce?

As you go through your divorce, the court system will determine your ability to meet the basic needs and rights of your children when setting child custody arrangements. Your ability to meet these needs determines how fit you are to be a primary custodian. 

Some examples of those basic needs and rights include: 

• Quality education. Children have a right to access to quality education. Therefore, courts will look at your access to school systems, particularly whether you would have to remove them from their current school under the custody arrangement. They will also analyze your ability to foster an environment of learning and studying in the home.
• Special needs. Children with disabilities have a variety of medical and emotional needs that must be fulfilled. Your financial ability to provide for these needs and your emotional ability to handle a child with disabilities full time will be analyzed by the court.
• Safety. Courts want to place children in homes where they will be safe. If you have exercised a history of substance abuse, neglect or child abuse, they will almost certainly not put your children in your custody.
• Health. You should be able to meet the various health needs of your children, including getting them to doctor’s appointments, paying for medication and more. Courts may also consider whether or not you are a smoker as they draft custody arrangements.
• Community. If a specific custody arrangement would require that children are uprooted from their community and their friends, they may be less likely to grant custody in that fashion. 

If you have further questions on what judges and arbitrators consider when they draft custody arrangements, speak with a trusted child custody attorney at Bryan L. Salamone & Associates.