A pertinent issue in divorce is the matter of custody and child support. In the Texas law of divorce, the issue must be decided before completion of the divorce process. The court has to establish the rights and the responsibilities of each of the parents regarding the children. It is the court’s decision to state where the child can be legally residing. It is important to protect the child’s fundamental rights. It could be that the primary parent who is supposed to live with the children can move out of the area where the divorce occurred or otherwise depending on the ruling. There are also clear guidelines on the amount of money that can be provided as the child support and also the time that each parent can spend with the kid. However, everything must be based on the best interest of the child. The Texas family code does not use gender as the determinant of the child’s best interest. The relationship between the parent and the child is regarded as the conservatorship and parents can be joint managing conservators or sole conservators depending on how they relate to their kids. Neither of the parents can deny the other access to a child and the non-primary parent is supposed to exercise regular visitations as per the court decision.
Similarly, children under the age of three years are entitled to the proper care and a parental bond must be established due to developmental, behavioral, medical, and physical needs. Texas law has provided clear guidelines for the criminal penalties in case either of the parents interferes with custody. Matters of custody can prolong the divorce process due to the emotional and physical attachment that exists between a parent and the child. Therefore, each of the parents can try hard to ensure that their rights to a child remain unchanged. In some instances, parents can decide that they would want to shoulder less or none of the child’s responsibility may be due to financial instability or lack of concern and unwillingness to shoulder any responsibility thus complicating the matters. The court has to carefully evaluate the fitness of a parent in terms of their mental capability and their ability to handle the divorce. Even though one of the grounds for the divorce is the confinement in a mental facility for a minimum period of three years, the court has to determine that the illness is permanent without the likelihood of adjustment and in case the patient recovers there are no chances of relapse. The situation can be complicated because there is no consent obtained from the sick parent and because some of the mental illnesses are manageable conditions that become better when there are no stressful conditions in the environment and thus divorce could be unfair on one of the parties.
Divorce can be stressful and is one of the things that cause emotional and physical pain, and its negative impacts cannot be ignored. However, in most cases the court just finalizes the process and the other aspects become personal issues that if not attended could result in various forms of life challenges such as sickness and poverty. Thus, law has to ensure that if one of the parents was the sole provider for the family, then how their colleague can support themselves. How can they even cater for the cost involved with the divorce for example the cost of the initial pleadings and the money to hire an attorney. As many issues crop up, then the divorce becomes more complicated and can take longer time to finalize. If you have any questions about a child custody case, contact a child custody lawyer in Dallas, TX, like the office of Brandy Austin Law Firm, PLLC.