Joint Custody Concerns

If you are seeking joint custody, you may be wondering how you are going to work it out? With the assistance of an experienced attorney, you can navigate the process and ease your joint custody concerns.

Joint Custody Concerns: Do I Have to Pay Child Support If I Have Joint Custody?

If your custody agreement is a joint custody arrangement with a primary residential parent, the primary residential parent will most likely receive child support. There are also some questions that come from people who have a 50/50 shared access schedule with their children. They ask whether they’ll have to pay child support, or if they’ll be receiving child support. In most of these cases, there will be a child support obligation. Often, the higher earning parent will have a child support obligation – even with a 50/50 shared time schedule.

The Ultimate Guide to Family Law in New York

Please don’t think asking for joint custody or asking for half of the time with your children, will affect your obligation to pay child support or your right to receive child support. The courts tend to look at child support and custody as separate issues, and they will certainly not decide the custody situation based on its potential effect on child support. First and foremost, the needs of your child should be uppermost in your mind as you address your custody situation. It’s important to talk with an attorney because this complicated area may have a great impact on your children and your financial situation.

Joint Custody Concerns: Does Joint Custody Mean 50/50 Access?

Many people assume that joint custody means they will be sharing time with the children equally, but this is not the case. Joint custody assumes that parents will communicate and work together, but it does not assume that there will be a 50/50 schedule. In most joint custody situations, one parent is designated as the primary residential parent. That parent’s home is the primary address for the children, and the children will go to school from that parent’s address. It is quite possible that an access schedule will provide for the children to spend 50% of their time with the other parent, but there may be no such schedule. The other parent’s time may be less than 50%, based on the children’s needs, their ages, and the parents’ work schedules. Joint custody doesn’t necessarily mean a 50/50 sharing of time.

If you want dependable representation in arraigning joint custody, please contact the law office of Cole, Sorrentino, Hurley, Hewner & Gambino.