Contributed by Kelly D. Thames, Attorney & Counselor at Law, kthames@steele-law.com
Trends in how a court handles child custody flows with changes in society. In recent years, as some fathers began to take on greater responsibility as custodial parents, the courts started to become more favorable to awarding fathers the responsibility of being custodial parent.
Different states within the United States handle child custody differently based on the cultural norms of the states and internationally the same is true. Most recently, Switzerland is considering making joint custody the norm in a divorce. The courts would only be able to make an exception if the child’s welfare is considered at risk.
Joint custody is about joint decision making, not about who is the primary custodial parent. In Illinois, joint custody is granted if the parents can make joint decisions together concerning their children. Parents often explore this issue in mediation and find out whether they are capable of making decisions together after the divorce regarding education, religion, and other activities.
To me, it seems that joint custody as the norm would be a terrible idea. Many parents cannot make a joint decision on anything (it might be why they are getting divorced), which means that they must mediate their differences or litigate their differences. Anything that leads to more litigation, rather than decision-making, is not parenting. It’s costly and makes the parties less likely to cooperate in the future.
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