How Does the Court Decide What is Best for Our Children During a Divorce?
It is always best if the parents can come up with a voluntary agreement regarding custody. However, if the parents are not able to agree then the judge is given discretion to make a decision based on what is in the best interests of the child. This means that a wide variety of information may be disclosed regarding your life, your involvement as a parent, and decisions or activities you have been involved in past to give the judge an idea of what kind of parent you will be in the future. If both parents are fit and proper people to have custody then the judge will look at a number of factors to help make a decision that will best promote the interests and welfare of the child, such as, issues of morality, non-martial relationships, the wishes of the child (given weight, but not an “all determining factor”), age of the child, spiritual well-being, (but not type of religion), domestic violence, etc. This list is not exhaustive.