Divorce causes all sorts of problems especially when children are involved. Approximately 28 percent of children under age 21 live in a home without a parent. Receiving child support is directly correlated with physical custody of the child. If you are a mother and have legal custody, you are awarded child support about 63 percent of the time. If you are a father however, you are only awarded
child support about 38 percent of the time.
There are several different types of custody:
- Physical custody – In most cases, physical custody is awarded to one parent based on the child's best interest.
- Legal custody – Both parents typically share legal custody.
- Joint custody – Joint custody attempts to split the time the child spends with each parent as equally as possible.
- Split custody – In most cases, family courts do not like to split siblings, but if they do, that is called split custody.
If you are unmarried, most family courts will award sole custody to the mother. Fathers who seek custody must prove to the court that they are a better parent than the mom is. The unwed father however, usually takes precedence over other family members who might be pursuing custody of a child.
Approximately ¾ of custodial parents receive some form of child support from the other parent. If either of you are re-married, your chances of receiving payments from the other spouse increases.
If you are considering a divorce, or have problems collecting child support from a previous divorce, please
contact a family law attorney at Lusk, Drasites, Tolisano & Smith, P.A. With offices in Ft. Myers and Cape Coral, we will help you ensure your rights, and your children's best intrest in your proceeding.
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