Once the action for dissolution, nullity, legal separation, or paternity has been filed in court, you can establish child custody in California. This process is more complicated than a number of parents realize when deciding on the best environment for their children to live in. In some cases, the reasons for the divorce have to do with inadequacy to support the family or lacking availability to help take care of the children involved. These factors play a large role in determining legal child custody with the child’s well being in mind.

One complex issue that may come up in your child custody and visitation case is whether or not you or your spouse plans on moving to another county or state. Before this move occurs, you may require a modification of custody in California to ensure that any custody or visitation changes are legal and documented by the court.

If you have joint legal custody where both parents preserve the right to make decisions concerning the child or children’s health, safety, education and welfare, then residency is an important issue to discuss. A parent with sole legal custody who makes decisions alone regarding the child or children still needs to inform the court of his or her decision to move out of state.

As a parent who does not receive legal custody, you should still be entitled to visitation rights which are usually created by the court. Visitation is indeed affected if your spouse moves out of the state with your children.

To help you with all your child custody and visitation matters, you need the knowledge and experience of a skilled family law attorney who will assist you with your case and ensure that paperwork is filed properly and in a timely manner. Call Wallin & Klarich today at 888-280-6839 for a case evaluation.