Child Custody & Visitation

Caring Child Custody Attorney in Panama City, Florida

Divorce and Your Children

If you have children, their best interests are of paramount importance to the family courts in Florida. Divorce can adversely affect the lifestyle and emotional equilibrium of children, but with the help of a caring and skilled family law attorney the impact of your divorce on your children can be minimized to the greatest degree possible.

Issues affecting your children can include child custody, child support, visitation, and future changes in custody, support or visitation. Our Gulf Coast law office is here to assist your family through these legal issues and other family law matters. Contact the Law Office of Richard C. Trollope for a confidential consultation.

Child Custody

When a couple with children divorces, child custody is often one of the most emotionally charged issues. Generally because both parents want to spend time with their children, assigning custody can be a difficult task and disputes often arise.

There are many forms of child custody including, sole custody, joint custody (also known as shared parental responsibility), shared custody and rotating custody. A skilled child custody lawyer can explain each form of custody, or shared parenting arrangement, and help you decide which form may work best for your family situation.

Child custody is further defined by physical and legal custody.

• Physical custody involves daily care for the child
• Legal custody involves decision-making beyond the child's daily needs for food, clothing, schooling and general hygiene and exercise

In Florida, the term "shared parental responsibility" is used to describe a co-parenting arrangement whereby both parents are involved in major decisions affecting their child's, or children's, lives. Under shared parental responsibility, both parents work together to choose the child's school, dentist, physician, after-school activities, religious upbringing, legal decisions, and the like.

Visitation

Child visitation and child custody are entwined. As part of divorce proceedings, once the best form of child custody is determined, the judge then sets guidelines for visitation. In Florida, it is a matter of public policy to ensure that parents share responsibility for raising children and that minor children see both parents often and on a continuing basis after the parents are separated or divorced.

When parents have shared parental responsibility, the preferred form of legal custody in Florida, one parent is generally designated as the primary residential parent. The secondary parent, or non-primary parent, will have visitation rights, which are either determined by the Court or as the primary and secondary parents have agreed upon. The primary residential parent is obligated to encourage the visitation by the secondary parent and the continued close relationship between the child and the non-residential parent.

The court assesses the needs of a child, weighing the child's age, maturity, the distance between parents' residences, whether the child is in school, and, if the child is mature enough, the child's preferences, to determine the best child custody arrangement and visitation schedule.

Sometimes the court may rule that visitation must be supervised in order to protect the safety and well-being of a child. With supervised visitation, the judge will require the other parent, another adult, or a professional agent to be present during visitation.

Modification of Custody or Visitation

It is unreasonable to expect that circumstances within a family will not change. When a child custody, visitation, or child support order does not suit the needs of your family, we can help you obtain a modification through the court. In addition, when orders are not being followed, we can assist you with enforcement of child custody or visitation.

We are here to help.

A divorce can be an uncertain and difficult time for any individual. We have many years of experience counseling clients in the process of divorce, and can help you through this difficult time. Contact Link to Contact Us our office to arrange a private consultation to discuss your concerns. We look forward to helping you.

The Law Offices of Richard C. Trollope
333 Magnolia Avenue (Magnolia at Fourth)
Panama City, FL 32401
Phone: 850-785-3423
Fax: 850-785-0408
Email

We are proud to serve Gulf, Calhoun, Jackson, Washington, and Holmes Counties, including Panama City, Port St. Joe, Blountstown, Marianna, Chipley, and Bonifay, Florida.