Nashville Change Of Custody Attorney
Skilled Change of Custody Attorneys Serving Nashville, Tennessee
A parenting plan clearly defines where a child will live and its timeline. It also states both parents’ legal decision-making rights. However, you can mutually update your parenting plan at any time. If you and your ex-spouse agree to make some changes, you can easily do so within one or two weeks with the help of a professional Nashville change of custody attorney.
Most couples are given a lot of leeway when finalizing what’s in the best interest of their child. Local judges do not like challenging an agreement between parents unless it’s egregious.
But for example, an agreement features something contrary to the child’s best interest, like having zero contact with one parent when there have been no previous allegations of neglect, abuse, or substance abuse. In such cases, the judge may ask for more information to better understand the family’s situation. Here, a professional change of custody and modification of parenting plan attorney can help assert the child’s needs inside and outside the court and ensure that their welfare is upheld.
Some Common Forms of Disagreements
Several hiccups may come your way when changing custody or modifying your current plan. One parent may wish to alter their current parenting plan, whereas the other party may not agree, or you both want to change the current plan in two different ways.
For instance, both parties may agree they want equal time, but one may favor a schedule where the parents switch every weekend and have set days during the week, while the other may favor a week-on/ week-off schedule.
Furthermore, your partner may agree to have equal parenting time but may not agree on how it must be structured. In such disagreements, you must go to court and get a final decision from a professional family law judge.
However, if you want to do that, you must clearly understand what you want. A well-qualified and experienced Nashville change of custody attorney can help you reach a favorable decision.
The Importance of a Child’s Best Interest in Custody Change or Modification Cases
All courts are obliged to try and maximize each parent’s parenting time for their kids. The only reason a judge wouldn’t do that is if any reasons suggest such an arrangement might not be in the child’s best interest.
Suppose you honestly believe that it would not be suitable for your child to spend equal parenting time with your ex, or you wish to have your overall parenting time maximized. In that case, you must consider asking the court to modify your current custody.
You must think hard about what is ideal for your child and thoroughly consult a Nashville change of custody attorney since there are several different statutory factors the court will look at.
You must ensure you’re doing the analysis the right way because what’s important to you, as a parent, might not necessarily be critical to the judge. Maybe you only need help to tweak the substance of how you plan to structure your argument. Unfortunately, there are no clear win cases, and there is no guarantee of the outcome.
Are There Any Restrictions On Modifying Child Custody?
Unless one parent alleges an emergency, they cannot ask for a change in their parenting time before one year from when the court placed the last order, even if there is a change in their circumstances.
When a court approves a parenting plan, and one parent wishes to modify it, and the other disagrees, they cannot make any changes unless they believe the child would be in danger.
Courts restrict requests for child custody modification because they don’t want to handle constant requests for alterations. However, if it’s an emergency, you can apply for changes, regardless of whether it’s been a year or not.
Contact a Nashville Change Of Custody Attorney for Better Legal Assistance
It does not matter what you think is right; the law requires your child’s best interest as the top priority in all decisions made by the court. As an experienced Nashville change of custody attorney, George D. Spanos can help you make changes to your current custody plans in no time. Having proven courtroom experience helps our law firm better understand your case and enables us to act accordingly on your behalf. Call us at 888-512-9952 to book a consultation today.