What your lawyer needs to know

There is nothing worse than being in a legal battle regarding who gets to see and care for your child(ren). Usually the battle is with the other parent, but sometimes it is with a grandparent or other family member, or a local child welfare agency. No matter who is involved, this case will make you scared, angry and sometimes feeling completely out of control. Your custody lawyer can help you only if he knows all there is to know about you, your children and the other people involved in the case. You can help him help you by giving him the following information:

Key people. The contact information for

Child’s doctor, dentist and other medical providers

Child’ teacher this year and past year(s)

Child’s principal and school counselor

Caregivers, i.e. babysitters, child care teachers

All people living/frequently staying at any place child stays

Concerned neighbors

Child’s friends/ friends’ parents

Supportive family members

Schedules

When child is with you

When child is with other parent

When child is with other caregivers

Telephone logs/calls to other parent

School

Camp

Child care

Doctor/dentist visits

Documents

Medical records (3 years)

School records (3 years)

Calendar of all visits/calls you have with child

E-mails, letters to and from other adults regarding custody, well-being of child

Litigation

Information and documents regarding this case and any other custody, divorce or abuse action involving you and/or the other people in this custody case.

In preparing for a custody case it is important that you keep a written record of all visits/communications you have with or about your child and with the other parent or party. Your lawyer and/or your doctor may recommend hiring a child psychologist to do one of the following:

Treat you

Treat your child

Perform a custody evaluation

Assist you and the other parent in learning how to co-parent

Teach you about your child’s development and needs at all stages of the child’s growth.

The process is long and daunting. With effective communication between you and your lawyer and with focus on what is best for your child, you may be able to resolve the matter at hand.

Shared Physical Custody Factors

Courtesy of a another great post by Fox Rothschild LLP:

At the core of Pennsylvania custody law is the concept that courts should seek to promote the best interests of the children involved. In the past, courts have been reluctant to grant equally-shared physical custody of a child in an effort to provide a more constant, regular home life for minor children. Recent trends indicate, however, that Pennsylvania courts are becoming more likely to grant shared and 50/50 physical custody as a method of adapting to the realities of modern families in which both parents may be working outside the home.

The factors that the court must consider in any custody case are set forth in the Divorce Code (at 23 Pa.C.S.A. §5303) and are as follows:

1. the child’s preference;
2. all factors which legitimately impact a child’s physical, intellectual and emotional well-being;
3. which parent is more likely to encourage, permit and allow frequent and continuing contact and physical access between the child and the other parent;
4. each parent’s qualities;
5. the qualities of adult household members living with the parent;
6. past abuse or violent conduct; and
7. criminal convictions.

Additionally, the following are some of the critical factors revealed in Pennsylvania reported cases dealing with requests for 50/50 shared physical custody:

1. The existing division of child care responsibilities between the parents and whether one parent has been the primary caretaker;
2. The nature and extent of the child’s bond with each parent;
3. The ability of the parties to co-parent with one another;
4. The proximity of the parents’ homes (and if they live in the same school district);
5. The benefits to the child from having day-to-day contact with both parents;
6. How much time the child spends in day care (before and/or after school care);
7. The child’s age;
8. The parties’ respective work schedules;
9. Other members of each parent’s household; and
10. Whether the child has any special needs.

The foregoing list is certainly not exhaustive, but highlights the child-centered inquiry, as opposed to fairness to the parents for custody time. As each custody case is judged on its own set of facts, it is vital to give a court the specific facts of each situation in the context of what is best for the children

Internet Records in a Divorce Case

Check out this great post about internet records in a Divorce case by the California Divorce and Family Law blog. Here is an excerpt below:

In 2005, Jennifer London, a United States citizen who was domiciled in St. Martin, began divorce and child custody proceedings against her husband, Richard London, also a United States citizen, in St. Martin, a French territory governed by French law. Jennifer sought a divorce from Richard based on adultery, a ground for a fault-based divorce. To establish the adultery, Jennifer introduced evidence in the divorce proceeding to suggest that Richard had used five pseudonymous Yahoo! email accounts to solicit sex on the Internet. Richard denied that the email accounts belonged to him and claimed that Jennifer had fabricated the evidence.

Thereafter, Jennifer filed an application in district court for an order to conduct discovery on the five Yahoo! email accounts under 28 U.S.C. § 1782 for use in her foreign divorce case. The district court granted the application and issued a subpoena to Yahoo! directing it to produce: (1) documents identifying the names, addresses, and telephone numbers provided by the users of the five email accounts; (2) documents describing the dates on which the five email accounts were created; (3) documents describing the Internet protocol address (IP) from which the five email accounts were created; (4) documents identifying Internet groups in which the account users participated; and (5) documents reflecting group board postings made by the account users. Jennifer served Yahoo! with the subpoena, and agreed to waive the right to documents listed in item five. Richard and the four Does moved to quash the subpoena, which the district court denied....

The proof sought, given the nature and character of the foreign case, is critical to establish adultery, secure the divorce, and defend against allegations of fabrication. Such evidence may be the only way to identify the user of the email accounts used to solicit adulterous sex. The request is not an attempt to avoid foreign evidence rules, and is not unduly intrusive or burdensome because it seeks to gather only identifying information for the accounts, such as the names and addresses of the users, and not the content of any communication. Given the need for the evidence, and the minimal invasion required, the [Intel Corp. v. Advanced Micro Devices] factors weigh in favor of granting the request.

LINK: http://oc-divorce.typepad.com/california_divorce_and_fa/2008/05/subpoena-of-internet-service-provider-records-in-a-divorce-case.html