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The children often suffer the most during a divorce and have their entire world turned upside down as their parents no longer live together and they don’t see both as frequently as they are used to. You and your ex-spouse can negotiate potential custody options, otherwise the judge will rule in what they believe is in the best interest of the child; the judge may assign sole custody to one parent, or may rule in favor of joint custody. If you are concerned with a custody ruling for your child, or children, contact our office to speak with a Beaverton family law attorney so we can go over your options.

Sole custody

This is fairly straightforward and is that the child, or children, are under the parenting of one spouse and not both. With sole custody, you are responsible for all decisions for the child’s life and future, including their medical wellbeing, education, and more. If joint custody isn’t an option and the judge must rule for sole custody of one parent, they will review your emotional connection with the child, your income, the stability of the household you will raise the child, and if there was any history of abuse between the parents, or towards the child. Gender of the parent is not a point of consideration when determine custody.

Joint custody

In Oregon, both parents must agree to joint custody for a judge to rule in favor of it, otherwise, they will revert to determining sole custody as we mentioned earlier. In joint custody, the child still may only live with one parent full-time, or you can negotiate a split of time where the child visits the other parent. However, having both parents involved in parenting benefits the child as he, or she, is raised; you will work together to make the decisions we mentioned earlier (where the child will grow up, go to school, etc).

If you are going through divorce and want to discuss the pros and cons of sole custody against joint custody, call our offices so we can discuss the details of your finances, your spouses finances, why the marriage is ending, and what will be best for the child. It’s painful to go through divorce, but you need to do everything in your power to mitigate any more pain the child may go through as they get used to a life with separated parents. Call us today for more information.