Will a Notarized Custody Agreement Hold in Court
For your custody agreement to be enforceable in court, you must make a formal application for custody and ask a court to include an agreed custody agreement in a custody decision. It will be helpful to already have a notarized custody agreement, as a judge will usually honor what the minor child`s parents have already agreed to outside of court. At Culbertson & Associates, a team of trusted custody lawyers from Greensboro to Greensboro and Asheboro, North Carolina, we can help you apply for custody of your minor child and draft a custody agreement in your ongoing custody dispute. If you are fighting for custody of your child, you must do so in the state where they live. If Michigan is your child`s home state, a Michigan court has jurisdiction. The state of Michigan may not be your child`s home state if they do not currently reside in Michigan or have not lived in Michigan in the past six months. If you`re not sure if Michigan is the right state for your custody battle, you may want to consult with a family attorney. In addition, a court cannot prohibit an adult from leaving the state. However, the court can order that a child not be removed from the state without a hearing on what would be in the best interests of the child. Once a parent applies for custody, the court requires both parties to participate in mediation before they can appear before a judge. The court offers mediation free of charge and, if an agreement is reached, the mediator will write the agreement for both parents before it is signed by the judge.
If both parties decide to go to a paid mediator, an appointment can usually be made within a month. If the parents agree on custody arrangements through the mediator, the mediator can often have the agreement reached on the day of the appointment. It should be noted that resorting to the courts is costly and stressful for everyone involved, so we recommend avoiding litigation whenever possible. If the court has already made a decision on this issue, you may be able to file a request for reconsideration or a request to correct the error, depending on the length of the court order. Notarized custody arrangements, on the other hand, are generally accepted by schools and used for other purposes, such as providing medical care and insurance for young children. You should consult a local family attorney in the county where your child resides or where you are currently involved in litigation. Joint custody means that the parties participate in the child`s decision-making process (custody) or share the privilege of letting the child live in their home. Depending on what the parents agree, joint custody can take many forms. It may be a 50/50 split of the time each parent spends with the child, or it may be that one parent retains more physical custody than the other. In the case of unequal distribution, it is important to consider that the parent who spends more time with the child (more than 123 nights) has primary custody and the other parent has secondary custody or access. Navigating the custody system is undoubtedly difficult, so it is important to have the support of an experienced lawyer throughout the process.
Our experienced family law team is ready to guide you every step of the way. In this article, we share some answers to the questions we hear most often about the custody process. While it may be tempting to take a DIY approach with a parental consent template that can be found online, we don`t recommend going that route. These cookie cutting agreements are problematic because they don`t take into account your state`s specific laws and often don`t communicate the points you accept. We have advised many clients who have tried these models, and the most important thing to remember is that it is better to pay a lawyer a few hundred dollars for the beginning than to spend thousands to correct errors later. In addition, a lawyer can help negotiate and conclude the custody agreement. A lawyer ensures that the child receives the best possible solution for his or her needs. You can also expect your lawyer to represent you in court in this case. In order for a court to enforce your custody agreement, you must properly apply for custody and ask the court to include the agreed custody agreement in a custody decision.
A notarized custody agreement is advantageous because a judge often recognizes an agreement made outside the court between the parents of the minor child. The timing of a custody case can vary considerably depending on the path chosen by the parents. My ex and I signed a notarized custody agreement that she couldn`t leave the state with my son without my written permission. If you are involved in custody litigation in Michigan, contact one of our compassionate and qualified Michigan custody lawyers now for free, confidential advice. Make an appointment today! A notarial custody contract is not enforceable by a court. A signed and notarized custody agreement is enforceable as a contract between the parents, but the court will not enforce the agreement until it is included in a court order. The law in North Carolina is clear that courts are not bound by co-parenting contracts. However, if you currently have a notarized custody agreement that has not been included in a court order, it is not useless. A court can use this agreement as evidence in future proceedings of the parents after the agreement if problems arise when a parent decides to no longer comply with the agreement.
In addition, these notarized custody agreements are often adhered to by school systems and are useful for other purposes such as medical care and insurance for minor children. Alternatively, if you can`t reach an agreement but don`t want to sue, you can participate in mediation with a paid mediator. At W&H, we use court-certified family law mediators who, as family lawyers, are familiar with the laws and judges of your country. If a parent decides to file a complaint in court, the process can take several months or more than a year. Courts are inundated with custody cases, and court dates are usually set a few months after the first case is filed. And even if you get a hearing date, your case could easily be postponed if the list is too full to hear all the cases assigned on a given day. Before visiting a judge, you should also consider the time you spent on the court-mandated mediation phase. As a parent, you and your ex-partner must sign a notarized custody agreement outlining how you will raise your minor children together. At Goldman & Associates Law Firm in Michigan, we can help you draft a custody agreement as part of your current lawsuit.
Ultimately, custody arrangements need to be approached with care, compassion, and understanding on both sides, regardless of how you approach the process. We understand that it is not always easy to create this environment without the help of a professional, so we strongly recommend that you seek advice from our family law lawyers when considering what is best for your child in the long run. In North Carolina, the child of married parents is considered a child of marriage. Apart from that – or if the husband questions paternity – a paternity test must be carried out before a custody agreement can be accepted by the court. Custody lawyers in your area can help you create or troubleshoot a custody agreement. Your state`s laws on custody arrangements can be better understood if you work with an experienced local attorney who is familiar with local rules.