Modification of Custody based of Preference of Child

As a child grows older and begins making decisions affecting his or her own life, a child might decide that he or she wants to go live with the "other" parent. Whether the court approves the move depends on the age and maturity of the child, the reason, for the move, and the ability of the parent to care for the child.

Putative Father's Right to Custody vs. Natural Mother or Legal Parent

The changing nature of marital and other domestic relations in the United States, and concurrent changes in public attitudes toward such things as the status of children born outside of marriage, have been accompanied by an evolution in the manner in which the legal system treats a number of issues of family law. One group of these issues concerns the right of a putative father, that is, a man who is supposed or reputed to be the biological father of a child born to a woman to whom he is not married, or who claims to be the father of such a child, to assert his entitlement to custody of or visitation rights with the child or children who are subject to his claim of fatherhood.

Effect Of Adoption on Non-Parent Visitation

When a child is adopted, he or she becomes a part of the new adoptive family. As a result, the child's ties to his or her old, natural or biological family are ended. If visitation rights had been granted to a nonparent, usually a grandparent, before the adoption, most courts would not permit continuation of the visitation. However, if the child is adopted by a stepparent, some courts would continue the visitation by the nonparent, if it is in the child's best interests.

Role of Income Tax Returns in Determining Child Support Obligations

In order to properly determine a parent's child support obligation, it is important for the court to know what the parent actually earns. Tax returns reveal not only what a parent has historically made, but may also reveal amounts the parent has been concealing or if the parent is intentionally impoverishing him or herself.

Income Withholding for Child Support Actions

Wage withholding is a method of paying child support by having the obligation taken directly out of the parent's pay by the employer. Some parents voluntarily agree to wage withholding; others have it imposed upon them by a court.