Divorce Vermont Custody

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The family courts in this state refer to "child custody" as PR & R "parental rights and responsibilities." An order that deals with PR & R addresses the following topics.

  • Which parent is supposed to take physical care of the child?
  • Which parent must take vital decisions pertaining to the life of the child and how the child must be raised?
Initially, the parents are given freedom to draft an agreement of PR & R. Further, the parents can request the court to convert this agreement to a court order.

Options for Legal Divorce Vermont Custody

Legal custody implies the right of a parent to take crucial decisions pertaining to the child and how the child must be raised. Some examples of the topics on which decisions are taken are as follows.

  • Whether the child can travel out of Vermont?
  • What sort of religious training must be given to the child?
  • What type of medical and dental care must be given to the child?
  • The kind of education the child must be offered
Sole legal custody means that 1 parent has the right of decision making.

Shared legal custody implies that both parents share this right. This is usually possible due to an agreement between the parents.

Split legal custody indicates that the father has the decision making powers of some children while the mother has these powers of other children.

Options for Physical Divorce Vermont Custody

Physical custody is the right of a parent to have the child residing with him/her and also stay overnight with him/her. This parent has to cater to the routine requirements of the child.

Sole physical custody means that the child resides with only 1 parent. This parent has the responsibility of caring for the child for 75 to 100 percent of the time.

Shared physical custody implies that the child resides with both parents for same or varying durations of times. For example -

  • Weekdays with father and weekends with mother
  • 1 week with father and 1 week with mother
Split physical custody is applicable when the parents have more than 1 child. Some children reside with the father and the remnant live with the mother.

The concept of Parent - Child Contact

"Parent - child contact" is synonymous with "visitation." It can be defined as the right of a non custodial parent to be with the child for some time. When one parent is awarded sole physical custody, the other parent is generally granted some sort of visitation.

The parents are given an opportunity to decide between themselves the terms of PR & R as well as parent child contact. If the parents fail to do so, the judge finalizes these issues.

The objective of the judge is that the child must remain in contact with the father as well as the mother. The only exception to this intent is when such a contact would be harmful to the child. Let us assume that one of the parents has harmed the child. Consequently, the judge might restrict the visitation hours or announce that there would be no contact with such a parent.

In some cases, one parent desires that there should be no contact between the child and the other parent. For this to happen, the parent must prove to the judge that the other parent is a grave and imminent threat to the child.

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