5 considerations for fathers in child custody cases

Fighting for your children is something that most fathers will do without batting an eye. This is often the case when a father is going through a child custody battle. Before you embark on the fight, you must understand some basic points about child custody so you can put that knowledge to use as you endeavor to secure the fairest share in raising your children.

#1: Physical custody

Physical custody relates to who has the child. Florida tends to default to a 50/50 physical custody arrangement that grants both parents equal time with the children. This doesn't mean that you will have the child for 12 hours in each 24-hour period. Instead, the court looks at coming up with an arrangement that gives the child a high quality of life between both parents' homes.

#2: Legal custody

Legal custody refers to who makes decisions for the child. There are several ways for this to occur. Medical care, education and faith or religion are some of the categories for decision-making powers. One parent might have sole decision-making powers or both parents might split them. Outlining how all decisions, including emergencies, are handled can help in the long run.

#3: Scheduling

Child custody schedules must take the child's schedule for school and activities into account. The arrangement must also consider each parent's work schedule. Some child custody schedules are creative so that the children can spend quality time with their parents while the parents can earn a living. This is important for factory workers, medical professionals, and other people who don't have schedules that are akin to bankers' hours.

#4: Vacations

Child custody arrangements must include information about what happens when the child has a school vacation. It should also include arrangements for holidays and special events. Hashing all of this out can help you to know what to expect in the years to come so that you can make summer vacation plans and vacations for other holidays. Even if the children are young now, these arrangements are still important so you aren't scrambling to get agreements made at the last minute.

#5: Communication

Fathers who travel for work, such as those who are in the military, should be sure that arrangements for communication are included in the child custody agreement. This can include virtual visitation that encompasses online video chats, phone ca lls and similar communication methods that help the child and father to continue to build a relationship despite the distance between them.