When you are a co-parent, one of the most important things is to have a parenting plan that works well for everyone. You need to have a child custody plan in place that is manageable for both you and the other parent. It also needs to provide your child with stability and the right environments to grow and mature. Yet, a child custody order may not be the right arrangement for your family one, two, or five years down the road. Circumstances may change, not to mention, what your child needs can change drastically as they grow up. Because everyone’s lives evolve, courts recognize that child custody orders need to be modified from time to time.
Depending on your situation, you may file a petition in court for a modification of custody or your child’s other parent may do so. In either case, we recommend hiring an experienced Birmingham child custody lawyer to represent you. If you wish to change the custody and visitation schedule in place, you must go to court with evidence that circumstances have substantially changed and that altering the schedule is the best thing for your child. When the other parent wants a modification and you disagree, you need to prepare to prove that altering the current arrangement is too disruptive and detrimental to your child.
Our attorneys at Alabama Divorce & Family Lawyers, LLC are highly experienced in child custody modification cases. Let us help you obtain the best possible arrangement for your family. Call us at (205) 255-1155 or use our online form to request a free consultation.
Whether you are the parent seeking a child custody modification or your child’s other parent is requesting a modification you disagree with, our family law attorneys at Alabama Divorce & Family Lawyers, LLC are here to help. We will:
If you have any questions regarding the benefits of hiring a child custody lawyer for a modification case, contact us right away.
The standard you or your child’s other parent must meet to modify child custody is based on an Alabama court case, Ex parte McLendon. It is sometimes called the “McLendon standards” or the “McLendon doctrine.” Grounds for child custody modifications are not found in an Alabama statute.
For a judge to approve a change in your current child custody order, you or the other parent must prove:
This is a high hurdle. If you wish to change the child custody order, you should speak with an attorney first. If you go to the court to try and modify the custody agreement and you cannot establish the three elements above, you will have wasted your and court’s time. However, this high hurdle also works in your favor if your child’s other parent attempts to alter the current custody order for an insignificant reason.
There are many reasons why you or your child’s other parent may ask the court to modify the current child custody schedule, including:
If you want to change your current child custody schedule, yet you are not sure your reason is a significant enough change in circumstances, then contact us at Alabama Divorce & Family Lawyers, LLC.
If a judge determines the reason for you or the other parent’s modification request is substantial enough, the next step is for the judge to decide if changing the custody schedule is in the best interests of the child.
The court can look at numerous factors when deciding whether a change is the best thing for your child’s health, safety, and well-being, including:
The judge wants to establish a parenting plan that is the best possible arrangement for your child. That will be a custody schedule in which the child can thrive in a nurturing and loving environment while also maintaining close and healthy relationships with both parents.
Many child custody modifications brought by the non-custodial parent result in them gaining more visitation or physical custody, while the custodial parent receives less time with the child. If the changes are substantial enough though, the judge may change who the custodial guardian is.
At Alabama Divorce & Family Lawyers, LLC, we have handled cases involving changing custody from a mother to a father. This is a significant disruption to a child, however, there are many times when a father is better able to provide the child and offer a safe, stable, and loving home. If you are a dad and you believe it is time you gained a greater amount of physical custody or you want full custody of your child, call us right away.
If your child custody arrangement changes significantly, you should speak with an attorney about the current child support order. If you pay child support, but your amount of physical custody has increased, you may need to ask a court to decrease your obligation, though this is not guaranteed. When your time with your child decreased and you already paid support, your child’s other parent may ask for an increase in your obligation. If you went from being the non-custodial parent to the custodial parent, then you may be owed support instead. You should absolutely speak with a lawyer about returning to court and altering the child support order.
If you are a co-parent and you believe it is time for the parenting plan to change, contact Alabama Divorce & Family Lawyers, LLC online or give us at a call at (205) 255-1155. If the other parent agrees to make some changes, we can represent you in negotiating these changes outside of court or through mediation. If the other parent is no cooperative, we can prepare to ask a court to order a child custody modification.
Whatever your current circumstances or your relationship with your co-parent, we are here to help. We will guide you through this process and assist you in seeking the best possible arrangement for your child.
$2,000 -FOR- 3 months
Many divorces can be completed in this time.
$10,000 -FOR- 1 year
Some divorces require longer than three months to complete.
Customized divorces and complex cases can range from $5,000 to more than $100,000, depending on a variety of factors, such as case complexity, assets, and child custody. Additional payment options are available.