When you have a child with someone in California and the relationship between you and your child’s other parent ends, you need to figure out who is going to handle parental responsibilities moving forward. Unless you and your former partner agree to custody terms, you may need the state to step in and come up with an appropriate arrangement.
Per the California State Legislature, California’s family courts strive to make custody-related decisions that are in line with your child’s best interests. What types of variables do they consider when making decisions about where your child should live?
The relationships that already exist between parent and child
California’s family courts may consider how active you and your child’s other parent have been in his or her life to date when making custody decisions. Considerations might include the duration and nature of the contact the child has had with each parent up until this point.
Each parent’s ability to create a stable home life
Arguably the most important consideration in California child custody cases is whether each parent pursuing custody has what it takes to create and maintain a healthy and safe environment for the child.
Whether a history of abuse exists
If there is any history of abuse involving you or your child’s other parent, this may impact custody decisions. It does not matter if the abuse occurred between you and the other parent or between a parent and the child at the center of the custody proceedings.
These are some of the key variables that come into play during California child custody cases. However, this is not a complete list of all areas that may undergo review.
