mother with son

When it comes to your child custody proceedings, you must do everything in your power to earn some sort of rights over your child. This may just be your only opportunity to maintain the relationship that you have built with your child. Read on to discover how you can increase your chances of getting custody rights and how one of the seasoned child custody attorneys at Zimmet Law Group, P.C. can come to your side.

How does the New York family court typically rule on child custody?

More often than not, the New York family court will attempt to rule on joint custody. This is especially if both parents express an equal amount of willingness and ability to care for and raise the child. The reason why the court will typically rule for joint custody is that they hold the belief that a child benefits the most when they keep a relationship with both parents after a divorce.

The only way that the New York family court would instead rule for sole physical custody or sole legal custody, or even go as far as only granting visitation rights, is if there are severe, extenuating circumstances at play.

How can I improve my chances of getting child custody rights?

To reiterate, the New York family court will look into many extenuating circumstances before deciding on child custody. One of the most significant factors that they evaluate is parental fitness. This is considered a parent’s capacity to provide their child with the minimum standard of care.

Contrastingly, being parentally unfit means that a parent does not have the physical or mental capacity, or overall willingness, to properly care for their child. For example, the court may consider a parent to be unfit if they have a history of domestic violence, substance abuse, incarceration, or institutionalization.

With all that being said, you may want to take the following steps to improve your chances of getting child custody rights granted to you by the New York family court:

  • You may want to consider succumbing to psychological testing to show your mental capacity.
  • You may want to ask your loved ones to provide character statements to show your physical, emotional, and financial capabilities.
  • You may want to submit your medical records and work records to show your physical, emotional, and financial capabilities.
  • You may want to consider succumbing to observations of you and your child at home to show your relationship.
  • You may want to submit a record of your day-to-day routine with your child to show your involvement.
  • You may want to submit your child’s report cards, medical records, etc. to show your involvement.

If you are ready and willing to fight for your child, then employ a competent New York City divorce attorney today. We look forward to working alongside you.