Modification of Custody

A wise man once said that “custody is never permanent.  It’s true.  The court has ultimate authority to be sure parents are doing right by their children.  If you want to change an existing custody or visitation order, you must be able to show the court that there has been a “substantial change in circumstances,” that would make it in the best interests of your child for a court to make the change.  There is probably no single are of family law where there is more contention or more expense than when these disputes have to go to court.

Known as “modification” actions, filing a lawsuit to change an existing child custody or visitation order can be an expensive proposition.  As is true with any custody or visitation issue, the best way to resolve this kind of dispute is when both parents are willing to sit down and negotiate the change with the other parent and end up with the changes you both want reflected in a written agreement.  The agreement can be attached to what is known as a “consent order,” and filed with the court.  This avoids the litigation process altogether.

Unfortunately, this isn’t always possible, so folks end up trying to change the original order.  There are two categories of cases for modification actions, one that isn’t likely to be successful and the other that is:

Unsuccessful Reason for Modification:  One or both parents didn’t have an attorney when the original custody or visitation order was signed, or one or both parents signed an agreement they don’t like anymore, so one or both is not happy with the result.  If this is the only reason you have for wanting to change custody or visitation, you probably will have a tough time getting things changed if you go to court.  If this is why you want a change, you should probably look for another attorney.  We aren’t likely to be of much help to you.

Successful Reason for Modification: There really has been a substantial change in circumstances and it would be in your child’s best interests to have the original order changed.  The “change” can and should be directly linked to your child, not to you, and you’d better be able to prove it.  Some factors which sometimes can result in a modification of custody or visitation include: relocation of the other parent and the child; mental, emotional or physical abuse of a child; problems the other parent may have developed since the original order with mental illness, alcohol or substance abuse; changes in a child’s educational or medical needs; and sometimes, the other parent’s interference with the existing custody or visitation arrangement in a way that hurts the child (and oh, by the way, did we mention this: You’d better be able to prove it!).

Courts don’t like changing things too much or too often.  Neither do children.  Especially when their parents can’t sit down like grownups and work out their differences.  Unfortunately, there are too many situations where one or the other of the parents is obviously unwilling to cooperate.  If you find yourself in a situation like this, and need strong advocacy to get the best result possible for your child, contact us today!