Divorce and Best Interests of the Child
Divorce is a time of great upheaval for a family. Living situations, custody, visitation—all these change during a divorce. While as parents, we always watch out for our children, feuding parents in the middle of a divorce often have difficulty putting their children first. Therefore, the court takes on the duty of acting in the best interests of the child or children involved.
“Best interests of the child” is a term we hear often but may not understand. It is the standard that courts use to help guide their decisions, especially in matters of custody and visitation, but few realize what the term involves or how the court may use it. Because this standard affects the court’s decision-making process and the particular details of child custody and support, it is important for a divorcing parent to understand what the standard means. Courts look to a number of factors in determining what is in the best interests of the child in any given situation.
Best Interests of the Child: Factors
It is important to understand that a court will make no ruling that is adverse to the best interests of the child. It is one of the issues that a court will weigh when feuding parents are asking for divergent custody, support, and visitation.
Courts are guided by the presumption that it is really in the best interests of the child for the child to have a continuing relationship with both parents after a divorce. To that end, courts encourage both parents to share parenting responsibilities. Custody may be awarded to the parents jointly, one parent, a grandparent, or any other person that the court feels will provide the proper care and guidance for the child. Courts will often award primary custody to the parent who can best ensure a safe and stable environment for the child (and a continuing relationship with the other parent). They may also award equal custody to both parents if that is determined to be in the child’s best interest. Okla. Stat. tit. 43 § 112.5
Stability in a child’s life is essential. Food, clothing, a stable home life, love, and care are all important factors. When determining custody, the court will look to see which parent or parents are emotionally available to their children as well as provide a stable home life.
The court will look at a parent’s housing situation, their work schedule, roommates, the proximity of their living situation to a child’s school, and extended family. The court will take the age of the child into consideration. Younger children have different needs than older children do. In general, a parent who is actively involved with their child, who has a safe and stable home environment, and who is emotionally available to their child is often considered to be meeting their child’s needs.
Parental Fitness and Protecting a Child
Finally, a court will take care to protect a child if there are issues of parental fitness. This can occur as a result of a number of issues and can affect issues of custody and visitation.
Courts will protect the child when there are issues of:
Parental abandonment or willful refusal to contribute to support the child;
The parent is a registered sex offender;
The parent is a violent or potentially violent drug or alcohol abuser;
The parent has been convicted of domestic abuse within the past five years;
The parent is residing with another person who has been convicted of domestic abuse within the past five years; or
The parent has been convicted of any of the following: child sexual abuse of any sort or endangerment, kidnapping, incest, any crime involving minors and pornography, the procurement of or the keeping of a child for prostitution, first-degree rape, and the like. Okla. Stat. tit. 43 § 112.5
In these cases, the parent may not be awarded custody and may be limited to supervised visitation with the child.
If you have questions regarding the best interests of the child in your particular situation, bring your questions and concerns to an experienced Tulsa family lawyer.
Initial Strategy Session with a Tulsa Child Custody and Family Law Attorney
Get help when you need it most. Contact the Tulsa family law attorney at Seventh Street Tulsa Law Firm for a initial, confidential consultation. Call today at (918) 932-2777. We’ve also provided a form on the right side of this page where you may send your question or inquiry and receive an e-mail reply.