Child Custody

Need help establishing or modifying a custody or visitation agreement? Expert child custody attorney Kendall Gkikas & Mitchell, LLP can help.

Child custodyChild custody issues may arise during a divorce, a paternity dispute, or a guardianship case. In any situation, the most important consideration should be the well-being of the children. As an experienced, compassionate, and dedicated child custody attorney, Kendall Gkikas & Mitchell, LLP can help. We will fight tirelessly to ensure that you are able to exercise your legal rights to spend time with your children and participate in decisions affecting their well-being, while also working to exclude any unfit parents from negatively influencing or endangering your children.

Understanding Child Custody

California child custody orders provide for two types of custody: physical and legal custody.

Legal custody is the right to make legal decisions for your child, such as choosing a school to enroll the child in or making medical treatment decisions. Generally, unless one parent unreasonably interferes with or withholds consent from the other parent, legal custody will be shared equally by both parents.

Physical custody is the right to have the child living with you. Case law in California requires the courts to look to the actual time share to determine whether the parents are actually sharing the responsibility of having joint physical custody or if the amount of time spent with one parent in effect gives that parent sole physical custody. The parent caring for the child more than 50 percent of the time is normally considered the primary custodian with the right to claim the child on tax returns and enroll the child in a school nearest to their home.

With Kendall Gkikas & Mitchell, LLP as your child custody attorney, you can rest assured that your custody agreement will be fair to you and your children.

Types of Visitation Rights

Parenting Pitfalls

All parents have a fundamental right to see and spend time with their children, even if they were not found fit to have joint physical custody. Contact with both parents is generally considered to be important to a child’s development. The law provides for various visitation options to facilitate bonding with parents while also keeping kids safe.

Reasonable visitation

This type of visitation order is open-ended, allowing parents who get along well to work out the details of visitation between themselves.

Visitation according to schedule

If parents do not have a civil relationship, a schedule can help ensure fair access to kids on weekends, holidays, vacations, etc.

Supervised visitation

Supervised visitation allows parents to spend time with their kids, even if they are not responsible or trustworthy enough to be alone with them.

No visitation

If the non-custodial parent suffers from addiction, has severe psychological problems, or is otherwise considered a danger to the child, the court may forbid visitation completely.

Get a Tough but Fair Child Custody Attorney on Your Side Now

At Kendall Gkikas & Mitchell, LLP, we know how important your children are to you. As your child custody attorney, we will do everything in our power to ensure that you get to spend time with your kids and stay involved in their lives, even if you may have issues of your own. No matter why you find yourself embroiled in a custody battle, we can help defend your rights and your children’s best interests.

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