People commonly believe that the issue of child custody of the minor children in a divorce case will always go in favor of the Mother unless she is shown to be “unfit.” How Courts Determine Custody After Divorce In the divorce context, where the decision is almost always between the Father and the Mother, both of whom are probably good parents, the question becomes what would be in the children’s “best interest,” i.e., who is likely to be the better parent for these children going forward. There is no legal presumption that this will be the Mother. This “best interest” standard takes into account a myriad of factors, from who has been the children’s primary care provider in the past, to who is more compatible with the children. The bottom line is that child custody is generally awarded to the parent who appears best able to provide the stability, nurturing, and training that the children need to help them grow up to be happy, well-adjusted adults and contributing members of society.
Custody is not necessarily an “all or nothing” proposition, with one parent being awarded physical custody and the other parent getting visitation rights to see the children “one evening a week and every other weekend.” Various forms of joint custody rights are also available, where the children spend more-or-less equal amounts of time with both parents, and the parents share decision-making authority with each other.
