Law Office of Joanne Kleiner

child custody lawyer

Dec 23

What’s the Difference Between Physical and Legal Custody?

Understanding How the Different Custody Types Work

If you are one of the 13.4 million families where the parents do not live together, it is important to have a clear custody arrangement. The right agreement ensures your child has the care they need. When discussing custody arrangements, it is important to keep in mind that physical and legal custody are actually two very different things.

What Is Physical Custody?

Physical custody is about who the child actually lives with. If a parent has physical custody, they have the right to have their child live with them at least some of the time. Physical custody can be divided in any manner of ways. Some parents split physical custody 50/50 while others may just have custody on weekends or at holidays. It is also possible for one parent to have sole physical custody. In these cases, the child lives entirely with one parent. However, the parent without physical custody may still have parenting time rights with their child.

What Is Legal Custody?

When talking to your divorce lawyer about custody, keep in mind that legal custody also exists. This is a type of custody that lets you have input in your child’s upbringings. Legal custody allows you to make decisions about things like:

  • Where your child goes to school
  • What medical care your child receives
  • What religion your child learns about
  • Whether your child goes to therapy

Legal custody is typically shared 50/50 or awarded to just one parent. However, in some cases of joint legal custody, a judge may decide one parent is the “tie breaker” who gets to make the decision when both parties do not agree. Typically, the tie-breaking parent is the one who is the main caregiver of the child.

Which Type of Custody Should You Seek?

Now that you know a bit about legal vs. physical custody, it’s helpful to learn a little about how these forms of custody are awarded in a divorce or separation. Who gets custody is determined based on the best interest of the child. When both parents are responsible, loving parents, the court usually prefers that both legal and physical custody are split. However, any separation can get complicated, so sharing physical and legal custody is not always an option.

Most parents instinctively want to seek sole physical custody because they want to spend as much time with their children as they can. Sole physical custody can provide a child with more stability and ensure they remain with their primary caregiver. It is often a good idea if the other parent is too busy for child care or does not adequately meet a child’s needs. However, joint custody can also be a good idea. If you and your co-parent both have good relationships with your child, spending time with both parents can meet your child’s emotional and social needs.

In most cases, courts prefer to maintain joint legal custody whenever possible. This allows both parents the opportunity to participate in their child’s upbringing. However, you will need sole legal custody if the other parent is abusive. It might also be a good idea to try for sole legal custody if the other parent is neglectful or does not spend time in the child’s day-to-day life. In some cases, legal custody is a matter of convenience. If a parent lives far away and does not communicate promptly, you might need sole custody to ensure your child’s needs are met promptly.

Finding your ideal division of physical and legal custody can take some time. Since the subject is so complex, it’s a good idea to get help from an experienced divorce lawyer. The Law Office of Joanne Kleiner has been assisting families in Montgomery, Bucks, and Philadelphia counties for over 25 years. We can mediate for an amicable separation, or our team is happy to fight for you in a contested custody case. Email us or call (215) 886-1266 in Jenkintown to set up your consultation.

Jul 01

How Child Support is Calculated in Pennsylvania

How Child Support

If you have filed for divorce or have been served with a divorce complaint and there are minor children in the home, one of your first questions will involve child support. Under what circumstances will the court order the payment of child support, who will be required to pay, and how is child support calculated?

Who Pays Child Support?

In Pennsylvania, the parent of a child can request an order of support, whether or not a divorce complaint has been filed, and whether or not the parents were ever married. The support order typically follows on the heels of a custody order. If the court grants physical custody to one of the parents, that parent becomes entitled to support payments. In situations where the parents are not married, the court may require a paternity test before ordering support. It’s important to understand that you can be ordered to pay support, even if you are unemployed, provided you are the non-custodial parent. In addition, it doesn’t matter if the custodial parent makes more money than the non-custodial parent. Child support is intended to ensure that both parents contribute to the financial needs of the child.

The Calculation of Child Support

Either or both parents may be ordered to pay child support, with the court considering the following factors when determining the amount of support:

  • The net income of each parent
  • The earning capacity of each parent
  • The assets of each parent
  • Any unusual needs of the parent or child
  • Any extraordinary expenses

Contact the Law Office of Joanne E. Kleiner & Associates

For an appointment, contact our office online or call us at 215-886-1266. Let us use our experience, skill, knowledge and resources to help you make informed and effective decisions.

Feb 10

Fighting Parental Alienation in Pennsylvania

Fighting Parental Alienation

In the aftermath of a divorce, when emotions are still raw, you can have an overwhelming desire to punish your ex-spouse. Often, unfortunately, that can take the form of disparaging your spouse in front of your children or taking actions designed to minimize or alienate your child’s affections for the other parent. It frequently works, causing the child to resist visitation. Even when it doesn’t work, it can have a devastating impact on children, who feel caught in the middle.

Ways to Protect Yourself from Alienation of Parental Affection

One of the first ways to protect yourself from parental alienation is to ensure that you get joint or shared legal custody as part of the divorce decree. Legal custody refers to decision-making about the important aspects of your child’s life, such as discipline, education, health and religious training. Joint legal custody ensures that one parent doesn’t make all those decisions to the detriment of the other parent.

If you have joint legal custody, but your ex-spouse either refuses to recognize it or engages in behavior that is contrary to the court order, you can ask the court to find your ex-spouse in contempt. The signed divorce decree is a court order with the force of law and the violation of that order can result in sanctions from the court, including fines and even jail time.

Another way to try to prevent parental alienation by your ex is through a protective order. Typically, protective orders are put in place to address instances of domestic violence or abuse, but the court has the discretion to either issue an order that specifically addresses parental alienation or include provisions prohibiting that behavior in any other protective order. Violation of a protective order is generally considered contempt of court and can result in fines and/or incarceration.

Contact Attorney Joanne E. Kleiner

Let us help you protect your rights. Contact our office online or call us at 215-886-1266 to schedule a confidential consultation. We will help you stay focused on the issues that matter.

Jan 19

Protecting Your Rights as a Father in a Divorce Proceeding

custody of minor children

According to national statistics, less than one in five fathers is granted custody of minor children in a divorce proceeding. That may seem to be strong evidence of a bias in the courts toward mothers, but it’s more often based on a number of other factors.

Was the Mother the Primary Caregiver?

In determining who will have physical custody, the courts always give maximum weight to the “best interests of the child.” One of the first questions the court will ask is “which parent was the primary caregiver?” Courts seek to promote emotional stability for minor children and generally believe that children will best thrive when they have continuity in parenting. So, if the mother spent the most time with the child on a day-to-day basis, was the one who instilled discipline and values, and met the child’s needs, the court will want to perpetuate that relationship.

If you are a father who’s not been very involved in your child’s life, it’s not too late to start. It’s unlikely that you’ll be granted custody, but you may be able to get improved visitation rights. In addition, you’ll be better able to care for your children when they are with you.

Who Stayed with the Children?

Often, a grant of custody to the mother is simply a legal recognition that, as a part of the divorce proceeding, the mother stayed in the marital home with the children and the father left. Unfortunately, this often happens before the court orders either of the parties to leave the marital home. The reality is that, though it may be difficult to stay under the same roof with your soon-to-be ex-spouse, there’s no legal requirement that you leave until there’s a court order requiring you to do so. Furthermore, if you leave the marital home, it will be difficult for you to have the same bond with your children as their mother does, since she is with them almost all the time.

Contact the Law Office of Joanne E. Kleiner & Associates

For an appointment, contact our office online or call us at 215-886-1266. Let us use our experience, skill, knowledge and resources to help you make informed and effective decisions.

Feb 14, 2012

Types of Child Custody in Pennsylvania

One of the most difficult issues of a divorce is child custody. Who gets custody of the minor children, visitation and determining parenting time can be difficult even under ideal conditions. However, custody issues can usually be revisited as circumstances change, and an experienced Pennsylvania family law attorney can help you obtain custody modifications when appropriate.

The types of child custody in Pennsylvania are as follows:

• Temporary custody (de facto). This is different from court-ordered custody and refers to who has custody of the child currently. If you want to maintain custody during litigation you must file a request for temporary custody with the court.

• Sole custody. Sole custody is when one parent is given both legal and physical custody of the child and the child has only one primary residence. Legal custody is the right to make decisions for your child concerning education, religious upbringing, discipline, medical care and other significant matters concerning your child’s welfare. Physical custody means your child lives primarily with you and you make the decisions about your child’s day-to-day needs.

• Split custody. Split custody refers to a case in which there are two children and each parent has full physical custody of one of the children.

• Joint custody. Under joint custody you could have joint legal custody, when both parents share the control and care of the child but that child has one primary residence; shared physical custody, when your child has two residences and spends at least 35 percent of his or her time with the other parent; or you can work out a customized joint custody agreement with your ex-spouse that is a combination of shared physical and joint legal custody.

Get your child custody questions answered

At the core of child custody issues are your child’s best interests. To talk to a caring and compassionate family law attorney, contact us online or call (215) 886-1266 to discuss your child custody matter.