Child Custody & Visitation Attorney in Allentown

Pennsylvania Physical and Partial Custody in Divorce

For many parents, protecting their relationship with their child or children is the single most important objective to be achieved in settling their divorce case. If you have questions or concerns about your visitation rights, or if you are having trouble with any aspect of an existing Pennsylvania child custody order, contact Allentown divorce lawyer Dennis Charles for dependable advice about your options.

Legal Custody: Who Will Make Important Decisions?

In Pennsylvania, both parents are presumed, in the absence of substantial evidence to the contrary, to be fit and capable parents. The law also presumes that it is in the child's best interests to maintain meaningful relationships with both of them. Often, parents are awarded joint legal custody of the child or children, which means that the parents will need to agree on the most important issues affecting the child's life and welfare, including religion, education, and medical treatment for major illness or injury.

Physical Custody: Who Will My Child Live With?

In many cases, the court will grant primary custody to one parent and partial custody to the other. The parent with primary custody (the "custodial parent") will have the child for the majority of the time while the parent with partial custody (the "noncustodial parent") will have him or her at given times, such as alternate weekends, holidays, and summer vacations.

Although the terms “partial custody” and “visitation” are often used interchangeably in Pennsylvania to describe the access of the parent with whom the child does not live most of the time, there is an important distinction between the terms. If a parent has “partial custody” of a child, he or she has the right to take possession of a child away from the custodial parent for a certain period of time. In contrast, a parent with “visitation” rights only has the right to visit a child, and the term does not include the right to remove a child from the custodial parent’s control.

What if I Don't Agree With the Other Parent?

In some divorce cases, the parents are unable to agree on who should have primary physical custody of the child, partial custody or visitation schedules, or other aspects of child custody. A mother's or father's rights might also be undermined or complicated by allegations of domestic violence, child abuse, chemical dependency problems, or other factors that could result in limited visitation rights under supervisory conditions.

When you and the other parent cannot agree on child custody terms, a Pennsylvania family court judge will use a number of factors to determine what is in the best interests of the child or children involved. These factors may include the child's preference, evidence of abuse, the child's physical and emotional needs, and more.

Contact a Pennsylvania Child Custody and Visitation Lawyer

Family law attorney Dennis G. Charles will assert your interests during child custody negotiation. If you and the other parent cannot agree, he will highlight your strengths in family court and fight for your parental rights. To the extent that past problems are now jeopardizing your ability to achieve a satisfactory or meaningful right of access to your children, he can help you find the resources necessary to address and resolve this issue.

For further information about your options in a Pennsylvania child custody dispute, contact Dennis Charles in Allentown.