Divorce With Children
When children are involved in a divorce, emotions can be out of control and care must be taken to insure as best we can that the children do not become fatalities of the battle. Children are certainly the most vulnerable in a dissolution proceeding but have the least ability and the smallest voice to be protected from the proceedings and the system. We certainly see parents that are very good about verbalizing “for the best interests of the children” but all of their actions are in reality motivated by revenge or to punish or out of the anger of being rejected. Unfortunately we have seen cases when this anger last for years while the parent is in denial and continues to claim, “it is in the children’s best interests” There are many reasons but we encourage obtaining the services of a therapist for the children if they are old enough. We also encourage parents to enlist the school teachers and school counselors to help be our eyes and ears to monitor the children to get early signs of issues they may be having difficulty during the proceedings. We believe that your children are invaluable to you and that we must take care to always do our best to advocate for what is dearest to you.
Temporary custody, parenting time and temporary child support are all subject to agreement or a contested temporary custody hearing. These hearings are conducted through the use of affidavits. The compilation of the witnesses and the affidavits is done in the same manner as indicated above. Depending on the judicial district there may be limits as to the number of pages that may be submitted at the temporary hearing. What information should be contained in the affidavits and who should be approached about an affidavit depends on the case. We do have a copyrighted checklist and suggestions for information to consider for inclusion in affidavits concerning custody of children. The areas of concern are too varied and diverse for inclusion here. However, it is likely that with a bit of soul searching that you will have a very good idea of what information would be helpful for the court to know when deciding either who should have temporary custody or what parenting time one of the parents should have with the children.
What many are used to hearing as visitation is now called parenting time. A very usual and customary parenting time is every other weekend from Friday through Sunday, a midweek parenting time for a couple of hours, every other holiday and extended summer time (anywhere from one to twelve weeks, depending on the age of children and the circumstances) However, there are schedules that parties negotiate or decide on their own that are much closer to an equal division of parenting responsibilities. If the parties can agree as to a parenting schedule, the courts are likely to consent to that schedule. It is when the parties can’t agree that a more standard schedule is implemented. It is important to analyze your case to determine what is truly in the children’s best interests. In some cases, a parenting schedule can conform to the child developmental stages and can more accurately mirror what would be consistent with the child’s needs. For example, the use of every other weekend with an infant doesn't make nearly as much sense as something has more frequency with less emphasis on overnight parenting time or duration.
There are a variety of documents that we will want to review in preparation of the temporary custody hearing. These include some documents that you will be able to obtain for us and some that we will have to subpoena. Time to prepare for a temporary custody hearing can be critical if documents need to be subpoenaed as a discovery subpoena will take a minimum of 15 days to actually obtain the documents, if the opposing side does not file an objection to the subpoena. Some of the documents will want to obtain depending on the age of the children include any school records, including any MDT or IEP’s, medical records from the child physician and any hospital records, any mental health records, document generated by Early Head Start, Head Start, Healthy Beginnings, juvenile court filings, and any other writings relating to the children and their needs. We also like to review copies of text messages, emails, copies of pages from face book or other social networking sites, voicemails and the like. There are also documents that we will need that is not directly related to custody such as tax returns , current earning statements, and statements as to the cost of health insurance that is attributable to the children. We have a copyrighted check list to help you gather all of the relevant documents.
Once temporary custody is determined there are a variety of other issues that might be raised. These include requesting the court appoint a Guardian ad Litem, order parenting assessments, chemical dependency evaluations, psychological evaluations, custody evaluations. Each should be discussed as there are both positive and negative aspects to requesting these types of relief from the court .
Child support is based on both parents income. The Nebraska Supreme Court has promulgated guidelines that are a rebuttable presumption. That means as a practical reason, unless there are good reason the court should use the guidelines when setting child support. Joint custody does not change the calculation unless the non-primary custodian has at least 141 days of the year with the children. The child support amount is based on a calculation that combines both of your incomes. This normally does not present difficult issues unless one party is self employed. There are also issues if one party is unemployed, underemployed or quits their job.
Temporary custody, parenting time and temporary child support are all subject to agreement or a contested temporary custody hearing. These hearings are conducted through the use of affidavits. The compilation of the witnesses and the affidavits is done in the same manner as indicated above. Depending on the judicial district there may be limits as to the number of pages that may be submitted at the temporary hearing. What information should be contained in the affidavits and who should be approached about an affidavit depends on the case. We do have a copyrighted checklist and suggestions for information to consider for inclusion in affidavits concerning custody of children. The areas of concern are too varied and diverse for inclusion here. However, it is likely that with a bit of soul searching that you will have a very good idea of what information would be helpful for the court to know when deciding either who should have temporary custody or what parenting time one of the parents should have with the children.
What many are used to hearing as visitation is now called parenting time. A very usual and customary parenting time is every other weekend from Friday through Sunday, a midweek parenting time for a couple of hours, every other holiday and extended summer time (anywhere from one to twelve weeks, depending on the age of children and the circumstances) However, there are schedules that parties negotiate or decide on their own that are much closer to an equal division of parenting responsibilities. If the parties can agree as to a parenting schedule, the courts are likely to consent to that schedule. It is when the parties can’t agree that a more standard schedule is implemented. It is important to analyze your case to determine what is truly in the children’s best interests. In some cases, a parenting schedule can conform to the child developmental stages and can more accurately mirror what would be consistent with the child’s needs. For example, the use of every other weekend with an infant doesn't make nearly as much sense as something has more frequency with less emphasis on overnight parenting time or duration.
There are a variety of documents that we will want to review in preparation of the temporary custody hearing. These include some documents that you will be able to obtain for us and some that we will have to subpoena. Time to prepare for a temporary custody hearing can be critical if documents need to be subpoenaed as a discovery subpoena will take a minimum of 15 days to actually obtain the documents, if the opposing side does not file an objection to the subpoena. Some of the documents will want to obtain depending on the age of the children include any school records, including any MDT or IEP’s, medical records from the child physician and any hospital records, any mental health records, document generated by Early Head Start, Head Start, Healthy Beginnings, juvenile court filings, and any other writings relating to the children and their needs. We also like to review copies of text messages, emails, copies of pages from face book or other social networking sites, voicemails and the like. There are also documents that we will need that is not directly related to custody such as tax returns , current earning statements, and statements as to the cost of health insurance that is attributable to the children. We have a copyrighted check list to help you gather all of the relevant documents.
Once temporary custody is determined there are a variety of other issues that might be raised. These include requesting the court appoint a Guardian ad Litem, order parenting assessments, chemical dependency evaluations, psychological evaluations, custody evaluations. Each should be discussed as there are both positive and negative aspects to requesting these types of relief from the court .
Child support is based on both parents income. The Nebraska Supreme Court has promulgated guidelines that are a rebuttable presumption. That means as a practical reason, unless there are good reason the court should use the guidelines when setting child support. Joint custody does not change the calculation unless the non-primary custodian has at least 141 days of the year with the children. The child support amount is based on a calculation that combines both of your incomes. This normally does not present difficult issues unless one party is self employed. There are also issues if one party is unemployed, underemployed or quits their job.
