Find Out about Parental Rights and Obligations with Lebanon Child Custody Lawyers

Learn how to file for child custody in Ohio

Child custody and visitation rights decisions are often the most difficult and emotionally wrenching issues in divorce or dissolution. Allocating these rights is a procedurally complex and legally challenging task, and these decisions are often bitterly contested. Filing for child custody and visitation with the assistance of experienced family law lawyers can help you get through this difficult period. Ernst & Associates has achieved successful results for more than 25 years in child custody and visitation decisions in the courts of Butler, Warren, Hamilton, Montgomery and Clinton counties.

The custody process begins when either or both parents file a motion seeking custody of their children. The parents must file a plan for custody arrangements. Typically, the plan should address all the factors relevant to the care of the children, including:

• Physical living arrangements
• Child support obligations
• Provision for the child’s medical and dental care
• School placement
• Child custody during specific legal holidays, school holidays and other days of special importance

In general, the court’s preference is for a shared parenting plan to ensure that both parents have frequent and continuing contact with their child.

Discover how child custody is decided in Ohio

Ernst & Associates’ family law attorneys serving Lebanon, Mason, West Chester and surrounding areas in southwest Ohio can help you address the complex details needed to file a persuasive parenting plan that supports your parental rights. Our divorce attorneys have successfully addressed child custody cases in Ohio courts for decades.

The court can award custody in a number of ways:

• Joint physical custody, where a child lives primarily with one parent, but has regular visitations, including overnights, with the other parent
• Sole physical custody, where a child lives only with one parent
• Shared physical custody, where the child spends equal time living with each parent

Before reaching a decision on what is in the child’s best interest, the court can order an extensive study of the family members, investigating the character, family relations, past conduct, earning ability and financial worth of each parent and including medical, psychological and psychiatric examinations.

Protect your relationship with your child

Child custody is a complicated area of the law requiring the assistance of a reliable attorney with a track record of success. Contact Ernst & Associates online or by telephone at 513-970-6200 for a free initial consultation about your child custody issues.