Child Custody

No issue is more potentially contentious than child custody. All of the clients we have ever represented—whether the mother or father—has wanted what is best for their children. That is one reason why determining what is best for your children, who will have custody, and for how long, is such an emotionally charged and legally complicated issue.

When couples are communicating well, we have helped both fathers and mothers obtain court approval for the custody arrangement they negotiated themselves. When appropriate, such as when legitimate concerns have arisen about whether a spouse is abusing a child in their custody, we have moved quickly and aggressively to obtain court approval for giving one spouse sole custody.

As with any major decision involving children, we know that this can be one of the most important issues our clients will ever face.

In addition to explaining child custody rights, we negotiate better child custody agreements on behalf of our clients:

• We help clients enter into mediation, a free service in California law that settles the child custody support with a mediator, rather than a family law judge;

• With our help, child custody can be scheduled to suit the availability of the client;

• We help determine favorable legal custody, as well as physical custody for our clients;

• For clients who do not hold child custody, we help retain favorable visitation;

• We can alter existing child custody agreements to aid the child’s health well-being

We have helped hundreds of clients negotiate and modify child custody arrangements in a variety of ways:

• Protecting child custody involving out-of-state parents. Our client, the Father, had primary custody over his two minor children. He and his ex-wife had lived in separate states when the divorce concluded. We convinced the court to move its proceedings to Los Angeles Superior Court, near where our client resided, thus giving him the local advantage in determining child custody.

• Modifying child custody after judgment. In his child custody agreement, our client had already obtained significant amounts of visitation time, but had recently learned that the mother had recent drunk-driving problems. Our office hired a private investigator, who researched the ex-wife’s criminal record and discovered two related convictions with the previous year. We helped our client obtain full custody of the child on a permanent order from the court.

• Increasing visitation with a young child. During a divorce matter, our client was initially given visitation time with the parties’ minor child only in co-joint therapy sessions. Our client had been the primary breadwinner, while the other party was the primary caretaker for the child. Ultimately, we obtained regular overnight weekend and holiday visitation on behalf of our client.

If you are dissatisfied with your current child custody agreement, please use the form on the right to contact us right away, or call us at 310.288.1990.