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Why and How to Order a Change of Custody or Visitation in New Jersey
By finally coming to a custody agreement, you’ve walked a delicate tightrope to balance the schedules and needs of everyone in your family. Perhaps you needed a court to intervene in your contentious relationship and settle everything. However, when circumstances change and something isn’t working, you might find yourself needing to change your parenting time arrangements.
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How Does New Jersey Family Court Decide Custody?
New Jersey parenting plans are designed to make life easier for the children involved. Child custody can be established by a judge if parents can’t agree, but it is always best if parents work together on the details. When parents agree on a child custody calendar, New Jersey family courts will honor their parenting plan unless it is not in the child’s best interest.
Don’t be intimidated by the courtroom. We’ve got your back.
What Happens During a New Jersey Child Custody Evaluation?
If a previous custody resolution process like an assessment or mediation yields no solution, the court may order a full child custody evaluation at the parents’ expense. Parents may agree to a single evaluator or each retain their own separately, and the court may also order a neutral evaluator.
It is important to your family’s happiness that you succeed in navigating custody with your child’s other parent.
What to Expect During a Child Custody Assessment in New Jersey
New Jersey Child Custody Dispute Resolution Process
A child custody dispute that parents or other interested family members cannot resolve land in front of a New Jersey family court judge, and may be sent to a custody and parenting time mediation program. In this resolution process, an impartial third party mediates the parents’ custody and parenting time disagreements, giving them the opportunity to develop a plan together.
We know the ins and outs of the courtroom.
What is the Difference Between Child Custody and Visitation in New Jersey?
Custody and visitation share much in common, but have many differences. Parental rights distinguish someone with visitation from someone with custody, and the two terms cannot be interchanged. Don’t be confused by the overlapping legal definitions or individual types.
Protect the bond between you and your child.
New Jersey Resources and Links for Families and Children
Resources for Families
Free Legal Forms
Healthy Children
Case Law: Cases and Codes
Nurse/Family Partnership
American Academy of Pediatrics
National Alliance on Mental Illness
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists
When parents separate, families find help at the Law Offices of Jef Henninger, Esq.
How Do You Prove a Parent to Be Unfit?
Courts distinguish marital faults from misconduct that indicates an unfit parent. In other words, proof of a horrible spouse does not automatically deem that spouse an unfit parent, and seeking custody doesn’t have to eliminate parenting time. Although no one is legally required to parent perfectly, the court can decide that the dangerously imperfect are unfit.
Only specific criteria will convince a New Jersey family court to declare a parent to be unfit.
What Are the Custody Laws for Unmarried Parents in NJ?
Unmarried parents routinely have the same custody, support, and visitation problems that married ones have. Establishing paternity is vital in nondissolution custody cases, when unmarried partners separate. New Jersey family courts make no assumption about a father’s identity when an unmarried woman gives birth.
Divorce lawyers in New Jersey also help parents who never signed a marriage certificate.
Different Types of Child Custody in New Jersey
What are the types of custody in NJ?
In effect, there are nearly as many possible types of custody schedules as there are families. However, there are four main custody categories, types, or distinctions:
Keep your family together by choosing the custody arrangement that works best.
Filing for Child Custody in New Jersey
How to file for custody in NJ
To request custody of your child, you need to file documents to petition the court and make your case before a family court judge. The process to file for custody of a child in New Jersey can vary between jurisdictions, and a judge could issue penalties or dismiss your case outright if any part is filed incorrectly. Make sure to fully understand how the law works in the county where your child lives.
Gather your supporting documents when filing for child custody in New Jersey.
NJ Child Custody Attorneys 