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When dealing with a divorce, you may wonder what may happen to your child. Fortunately, parental rights in Chattanooga are straightforward and allow you to still be a critical person in your child’s life. With the help of a lawyer, you could see that your arguments are presented in a manner that advocates for you.
Typically, the parties themselves are able to determine parental rights. Folks who agree to a parenting plan and do it in an uncontested or non-adversarial way do a better job of buying into that agreement and it often goes more smoothly than a plan that is ordered by a judge. If the parties are unable to agree, then one of the judges makes the decision about what the arrangement would be after each party has a chance to be heard.
Child custody should be established in court. Oftentimes, people reach agreements outside of court and the problems they run into is that those agreements are not enforceable with the court. Unless a judge signs such a plan and makes it an order of the court, it is unenforceable. It is a good idea for people to go through the legal process of having one of these plans done.
When handling the child custody component of their divorce, the best thing a parent could do is craft a case with their attorney that considers each factor by itself and prepare and present the best case that that parent is the most suitable primary parent or custodian under the factors of TCA §36-6-106.
The determination of visitation rights could be contested. Every person has a right to be heard by a judge and present their case and convince the judge that they are the party best suited to be the primary custodian or to be the primary residential parent of a child. If the parties are unable to agree, then ultimately, a judge makes a decision and a matter would be contested.
Important Chattanooga child custody laws that a person should know about before deciding their child custody is Tennessee Code 36-6-106. One important factor is the rights of a father who was unmarried to a mother in Tennessee. Under that situation, a mother would have full custodial rights to a child, absent some sort of order by the court that gave the father joint custodial rights or some form of visitation. It is important for fathers to know that until a court makes a determination about their custodial and/or visitation rights, then they have no rights.
Visitation rights and child custody are somewhat one and the same. There are many circumstances where a third party like an aunt, uncle, grandparent, or even a family friend requests a court to grant them custody of a child because they feel that the child is somehow in harm’s way in the custody of a parent. In the event of a situation where a third party is asking for custody of a child, then that person may have custody and a biological parent may have visitation rights. For the most part, though, visitation rights and custody are interchangeable terms.
An experienced Chattanooga divorce lawyer could help ease the process of determining child custody for you. When dealing with the stress of a divorce, having an attorney at your side who could properly prepare your case, present your arguments to the court, and advocate for your child’s best interests could prove invaluable. Reach out to a caring attorney today to advocate for your parental rights in Chattanooga.