Child Visitation Lawyer Missoula
When it comes to finding a child visitation lawyer in Missoula, MT that understands the law and has success in mediating and resolving child custody cases, you can rely on S. DeBoer to be highly skilled at helping you through the process. Because the consequences of any kind of custody arrangement are life-altering for all involved, child custody, visitation, and decision-making plans must be measured with caution and carefulness. S. DeBoer has the ability to work across the aisle to get arrangements made quickly and easily depending on the motivation of the clients. Because the court has so much power and flexibility in these cases in Montana, it is beneficial to come to the table with the best of intentions.
Professional Legal Support
When it comes to who the child spends most of their time with and what kind of involvement each parent has in the child’s life, S. DeBoers has a skill in helping couples to come to a mutual understanding for win-win scenarios. Where that is not possible due to irreconcilable differences in parenting styles, Stephanie can help the couple to be prepared for how Montana law works, with custody being determined by the courts according to what is in the best interest of the child. S. DeBoer has the skills needed to work as an effective mediator and litigator, providing a stellar legal support team for all kinds of sensitive cases such as family separation and child visitation.
How is Child Visitation Determined in Montana?
In Montana, custody is classified by legal, physical, sole, or joint custody. It is common for parents to share custody, where they contribute to making decisions about school, religion, and medical care and only one primary parent has the final say in big decisions. Montana no longer uses the terms “custody” or “visitation” instead using “parenting plan” to determine where the child lives, how often and when the child spends time with the other parent, and where the child spends holidays and summers.
In Montana, both parents submit a parenting plan to the court, which explains their proposal for the custody arrangement. The court then determines what is in the best interest of the child before making the final plan. The best interest of the child is determined by including the child’s wishes, the parent’s wishes, the mental and physical health of all involved, and the needs of the child being met.
Child Visitation Rights for Fathers
Montana is one of the states that has family-oriented laws in place to protect the rights of both parents to have visitation with their children. Montana court judges are also highly motivated to keep parents equally raising their children for the benefit of all people involved, especially the children. Fathers in Montana that are not in a relationship with the mother as well as those that were not married at the time of the child’s birth are first encouraged to establish paternity with a paternity test.
Once that has been established, the parents can go to court to establish visitation. Things such as the wishes of the child and the mental and physical health of the father would also be evaluated in order to determine visitation. Any physical abuse or chemical dependency would be a heavy factor in visitation being limited or not granted at all.
Non-Custodial Parent Visitation Rights
It is usually assumed to be in the best interest of the child to have shared time with each parent unless to do so would be to put the child in harm’s way. Though it used to be common to see shared custody being granted with each parent having a certain number of consecutive weeks per month with the child, things have changed over the years. Now it is more common for the non-custodial parent to have shared custody with weekends and the custodial parent to have weekdays with the child.
As with all Montana laws, they will be there to protect the child while encouraging a natural form of relationships to occur. The court looks favorably on a family that comes ready to the court to work out the details in a professional and non-dramatic fashion. It is highly recommended that parents try to come up with a parenting plan that works for both parties as the court will look to the best interest of the child when determining visitation rights. Having a skilled, experienced attorney in these matters such as S. DeBoer can help you sail through an otherwise complicated and time-consuming process.
Grandparent Visitation Rights
Visitation by maternal or paternal grandparents, family members related by marriage, or other interested third-parties is less cut and dry in Montana and across the country. Laws regarding third-party visitation in unusual circumstances are frequently challenged. However, it is very normal for maternal and paternal grandparents to have visitation granted without issue in normal conditions.
It is far less usual to see grandparents awarded visitation in the case where the parents were not married or were divorced or deceased. Once again, it is up to the court to determine what is in the best interest of the child and they have significant flexibility when it comes to the arrangement that seems to fulfill that aspiration. Unless significant red flags were raised in any cases of reasonable proof of interest, visitation is often granted to grandparents as well as other family members.
Why Choose S. DeBoer Attorney at Law?
Let S. DeBoer help you work through the details of your parenting plan before you even file your petitions. She can help from front to finish with everything from legal separation to the final parenting plan. Working with S. DeBoer Attorney at Law will help you make the processes involved in child visitation much faster, easier, and painless for all involved. Her compassionate, skillful team of qualified lawyers are experts at taking on sensitive cases.
For a free law consultation to determine the first steps for you in the process, you can contact our office and get on the schedule. Our focus is on helping you to move into your future with confidence when you and your family’s needs are protected. Montana law is on your side and will support you to keep a healthy family together. Where there are questions, support will be offered further. It is best to have a skilled attorney to help keep things moving and focused while protecting your rights and privacy.
Get Started Today
At S. DeBoer, we understand how emotional and overwhelming it can be to have to deal with attorneys, courts, documents, and all kinds of inquiries. For support in creating a parenting plan that works for your entire family, you can count on our talented team of caring attorneys to help make sense of things with you. As your trusted partnering plan coach, Stephanie can help you get the most out of your child custody plan for everyone to benefit from. Reach out to us at S. DeBoer Attorney at Law for help in some of the most crucial times in your life.
S. DeBoers can help protect your family privacy while getting things done in the courts to get you moving on with the future that works for you. She will help ease the burdens so that you can move forward with dignity. When you are looking for the most trusted family law and child custody attorney in the Missoula area, look to S. DeBoer Attorney at Law to have the skill, experience, and dedication to help your family attain a newfound clarity and peace of mind.