What are the 3 forms of parenting time during or after a Louisville divorce? What do you need to know about custody and parenting time and your rights as a parent in a Louisville divorce case?
There are two types of custody under Kentucky Family Law: Physical Custody and Legal Custody. Legal custody is the ability to make important decisions regarding the life, health and well-being of your child. Physical custody is the right to have a child in your custody and to spend time or live in your home.
Parenting time is part of the physical custody portion of a divorce case. Parenting is usually to be shared fairly equally between the parents of a child of divorce. Kentucky Family Law is guided by the principle of what is in “the best interest of the child.” Our Courts have established a “rebuttable presumption” that it is in the best interest of a child to spend equal “quality time” with each parent during and after a divorce in the absence of domestic violence, addiction, criminal behavior and a few other exceptions.
The 3 forms of parenting time during or after a Louisville divorce are scheduled, reasonable and supervised parenting time or “visitation.” In most cases, the parents negotiate or mediate a settlement which establishes a parenting plan which contains a schedule for how the child will move between households on a regular basis. This clear and well-defined “scheduled parenting time” should anticipate any challenges which might arise as well as how to handle the sharing of important events in a child’s life including but not limited to birthdays, holidays and vacations.
In some cases, the established behavior or lifestyle of one of the co-parents may require an order for “reasonable” parenting time or visitation. This is often the case when a co-parent must travel extensively for work or the co-parents have established their ability to work together to decide when the child will move between households on a more flexible basis.
In cases involving domestic abuse, addictions or other behaviors or actions which may endanger a child, the Court may order “supervised” parenting time or visitation. When it is unsafe for a child to spend time alone and unsupervised with one of the co-parents the Court may order parenting time to be managed and supervised by an appropriate professional or another adult identified by the Court.
The 3 forms of parenting time during or after a Louisville divorce are especially important to understand during contentious proceedings. This is why it is so important to work with the experienced, proven divorce and family law attorneys at Dodd & Dodd.
We invite you to review the strong recommendations of our former clients and the legal industry and contact Dodd & Dodd or call 502-584-1108 to schedule an appointment with one of our attorneys.
