Child Custody and Visitation Attorney in Irvine, California
What advice do you give clients who are fighting for custody of their children?
What advice do you give clients who are fighting for custody of their children?
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First, everyone needs to know what the
standard in the state of California is
with custody. Um, and it’s this vague
phrase, frequent and continuous contact
with both parents. So, generally when we
see custody issues, it’s because one
parent is trying to limit the custodial
time of the other parent. And there
needs to be a real reason why that
limitation needs to happen. whether it
is drug and alcohol abuse, domestic
violence, um incarceration,
or because it just logistically is
impossible, meaning that they live too
far away. Um or that transfers or
exchanges are too difficult to make. Um
and I don’t just say, you know, someone
might live 15 minutes away from each
other. um if they live an hour away from
each other, it’s going to be very hard
for one parent to get the other to get
the child or children to school in the
morning. Um and so generally those are
ways to limit the custodial time. And
sure, there are other ways to do it, but
if someone comes to me and really the
issues aren’t falling into one of those
buckets, I generally want them on a path
where they have to understand that
that’s what the policy of the state is
and set them up for a a success to
either get there. So, if I have the
parent whose time is limited, um I want
to see why that time is limited and then
I want to address what steps I can take
to increase their time. Are they being
accused of being an alcoholic? And if
so, there are really easy ways to
address that. Get them on a program
called Soberlink where they can show to
the court that, hey, they’re not
drinking or get them having regular drug
testing so they can show to the court,
hey, I am not um abusing drugs. And if
the issue is domestic violence, um,
you’re able to rebut the presumption
that your time should be limited, but
you really have to have a track record
and create an evidence path to show the
court that. So, you have to show that
you’re active in their extracurricular
activities, sports, dance, ballet,
whatever it might be, you’re an involved
parent. You have to show that you have a
strong relationship with the children.
And if you don’t have the strong
relationship with the children for
whatever reason, there are ways to get
or be on the path for a better
relationship with the kids, whether
that’s some through some therapeutic
method with a mental health professional
or whether or not it’s just through like
a plan of how to get there and address
that issue. Um, it could be through a
co-arenting therapist. It could be
through a custody evaluation. Um, it
could be through something called a CCI,
which is a child custody investigation.
There are lots of ways to get there. And
really, what you don’t want to do is
just sit there and do nothing. Because
the more that you sit there and do
nothing, the more a court is going to
say, “Hey, this guy’s really not that
interested. He’s really not that
involved. Uh there’s no reason to change
the status quo and what’s going on with
the case right now.
Irvine, CA family law attorney Marc Garelick gives his advice to clients who are fighting for custody of their children.
