Franklin Child Custody Lawyers

The child custody lawyers in Franklin, Tennessee at Widrig Law, PLLC are here to help you create a parenting plan that works for your family. If you are getting divorced and have minor children, you’ll need to submit a parenting plan to the court to finalize your divorce. You’ll need to make decisions about where your children will live, how you’ll share time with your children, how you’ll split holidays, how children will get to and from visitation, and how major decisions will be made.

Child custody can be one of the more difficult and heart-wrenching decisions you and your former partner will make when you get divorced. The decisions you make now can impact your family and children for years to come. It can be very difficult to change a parenting plan once one has been approved by the court, because the courts are wary to disrupt the lives of children once a plan has been established. The decisions you make during your divorce are crucial and can affect your children for years to come and possibly the remainder of their childhood. It’s important to get this right. Reach out to the child custody lawyers in Franklin, Tennessee at Widrig Law, PLLC today to learn more and take the next steps.

What Must Be Included in a Parenting Plan in Tennessee?

Your Tennessee parenting plan must include details about where the children will primarily live, and outline how time between both parents will be split. The parenting plan will also include a parenting schedule outlining how time between both parents will be shared, and specifying how holidays will be spent with each parent. Different parents find different solutions, with some choosing to alternate holidays and others choosing to have the children on alternating years. The parenting plan must also include details about how major decisions will be made for the children. If both parents will continue to be the major decision-makers, parents might outline how disagreements between them will be addressed. A parenting plan may include additional detail about each parent’s responsibilities, how children will get to and from one parent to the other, how costs of travel will be handled, and other details, like when it is appropriate for children to meet a new partner.

Many divorcing couples are fortunately able to work out a parenting plan that works for their family and situation. In fact, it is often recommended that parents work out their parenting plans outside court, rather than fighting over child custody in court. Parents who are able to work out a parenting plan between themselves are more likely to abide by the plan, are less likely to face high-conflict in the future, and are more likely to have a better co-parenting relationship. When parents take their custody battles to court, there’s always the risk that the judge will create a plan that neither parent really wants.

The guidelines that judges use when making custody decisions can be rather vague, and may even seem arbitrary to parents facing one of the most difficult decisions of their lives. When judges have to decide custody, they’ll consider the child’s relationship with each parent; the child’s ties to the community or school (especially if living with one parent will require the child to move to a new neighborhood or school); the mental and physical health of each parent; each parent’s schedule; the child’s preference if he or she is old enough to express it; the ability of each parent to provide for the child’s physical, social, and emotional needs; and the child’s relationship with extended family and siblings. Other factors that can impact custody include domestic violence, drug or alcohol abuse, criminal background, and more.

While it is often best for parents to reach a decision about co-parenting on their own, there are some situations where parents may need to take a custody battle to court. If you are concerned about your children’s safety or well-being, you might want to seek sole custody. Sole custody is usually only awarded in exceptional circumstances, like when the courts have concerns about a parent’s safety but even in those situations the court will generally not eliminate all parenting time but can order the parenting time to be supervised. In general, the courts favor child custody arrangements where both parents enjoy a relationship with the children.

The child custody lawyers in Franklin, Tennessee at Widrig Law, PLLC are here to help you if you and your partner are going through a divorce and need help with a parenting plan. Child custody can be one of the most challenging decisions you’ll make. Our child custody attorneys in Franklin, Tennessee at Widrig Law, PLLC are here to help you craft a parenting plan that is in your children’s best interests.

Child Custody for Unmarried Parents and Other Unique Circumstances

If you are not married to your child’s other parent, but will be living apart, you may want to put a parenting plan in place. This can offer clarity about how you and your former partner or your child’s other parent will co-parent your child. When both parents aren’t married, paternity may need to be established before a parenting plan can be put in place. The child custody lawyers in Franklin, Tennessee at Widrig Law, PLLC can help you if you need help with establishing paternity or creating a parenting plan with your child’s other parent.

Establishing paternity can be very important for your child. It protects your child’s inheritance rights, helps establish a relationship between the child and his or her other parent, and can be important for a child’s health records and more. If you have questions about how to establish paternity and seek custody if you are not married to your co-parent, reach out to the child custody lawyers in Franklin, Tennessee at Widrig Law, PLLC.

There are other situations where parents may have adopted children or where both parents may not be the child’s biological parent in marriage (as is often the case with same sex couples). This can raise unique legal and custody challenges in some situations. If you have questions about child custody, the child custody attorneys in Franklin, Tennessee at Widrig Law, PLLC are here to help.

Contact a Child Custody Lawyer in Franklin, Tennessee

The child custody lawyers in Franklin, Tennessee at Widrig Law, PLLC are here to help you with your child custody case and are here to address any child custody questions you might have if you are getting divorced, separated, or will no longer be living with your child’s other parent. We can help you and your former partner create a parenting plan that works for your family, and if you have other custody questions related to paternity or adoption, we are here to help. Contact our child custody lawyers in Franklin, Tennessee today.