"Across three states, Jenny was hands-down the best divorce lawyer I worked with! Authentic, savvy, insightful, tough, empathetic and effective. Can ’t say enough good things about her."
Navigating custody arrangements after you and your spouse decide to part ways can be difficult for all involved parties. In addition to making big decisions regarding your assets and property, you now have to decide how your children’s time will be divided between you and their other parent. Even if your marriage ended amicably, custody matters tend to heighten emotions. It can be difficult to put your feelings aside when dealing with the most important thing to you–your relationship with your children. Creating a custody arrangement might feel impossible due to the complicated intricacies and emotional aspects of the process.
It’s important to remember that while divorce is challenging for you and your ex, the situation and feelings involved are only amplified for your children. At Triangle Smart Divorce, our Garner custody lawyers can help you tread the waters of custody lightly so that you can lessen the impact of the process on your children’s lives. When you need help sorting out the details of custody, call Triangle Smart Divorce to request a consultation and learn more about your next steps and legal options.
What Are The Different Types Of Custody?
There are two main types of custody in North Carolina, legal and physical. It’s important to remember that while custody can be classified under these two categories, your individual circumstances cannot. Every family and every child’s needs are different. What worked for a relative or friend’s family during this type of transition, might not work for yours.
Legal Custody
Legal custody pertains to which parent will make the important decisions in the children’s lives, like their education, religion, healthcare, and more. Legal custody can be shared jointly, or one parent can have sole legal custody. We typically see couples share legal custody jointly unless there is a specific reason why that cannot happen, such as if one parent has a history of abuse or neglect or has mental health issues. Occasionally, we see a family divide legal custody with one person having decision making over some areas, such as education and healthcare, and the other having legal custody over another area, such as extracurricular activities.
Physical Custody
Physical custody relates to where the children live and spend the majority of their time. There can be sole or joint physical custody, or primary and secondary physical custody; however, even when physical custody is shared jointly, it doesn’t mean that the child’s time is actually split 50/50 with both parents.
There are several different combinations and arrangements that can be created when it comes to custody, which is why it’s important to work with one of our seasoned Garner custody lawyers who can ensure you understand all of your options. It’s also important to remember that custody isn’t permanent and can be modified at any given point in time if the circumstances of a parent or child significantly change and a modification of custody would be in the best interest of the child. A custody lawyer can assist with this process as well.
High Conflict Custody
While mediation is a process that we highly recommend to all of our clients (and is required for custody in North Carolina). There are a few exceptions to this requirement, such as a history of domestic violence. If you have a non-compliant ex who likes to make family matters like these as difficult as possible, or they have a history of violence or any form of abuse, we know how to help protect you and your children.
No matter what your family dynamics are, our Garner custody lawyers want what’s best for you and your family, so we’ll do everything we can to help you reach a solution that is in the best interest of your children and that provides you with peace of mind.
How Triangle Smart Divorce Can Help You
If you and your spouse need to create a custody arrangement, you don’t have to do it alone. We’re here to help you understand your parental rights and legal options so that we can come up with an arrangement that fits your children’s needs and disrupts their lives as little as possible. When we say we aren’t your typical custody lawyers, we mean it. Our Garner custody lawyers will put your goals for your family at the forefront of all that we do. Call today to schedule a consultation and learn about the next steps.
"Across three states, Jenny was hands-down the best divorce lawyer I worked with! Authentic, savvy, insightful, tough, empathetic and effective. Can ’t say enough good things about her."
"The entire staff at Triangle Smart Divorce has been wonderful. My divorce has been extremely complicated and difficult, they have helped and been successful at every turn. They are more than competent and are also very compassionate individuals. They will and do walk you through each and every step to obtain the best results for you. An amazing team!"
"I would rate everything about my experience with Triangle Smart Divorce as 5 stars. The hardest step of any big decision is the first step. Jessica set the tone from the very first phone call. She was compassionate, calming and reassuring. The whole team has continued to work to maintain a supportive environment during the most difficult time of my life. I’m very grateful."
"Jenny Bradley and her team at Triangle Smart Divorce was the best decision I made. "
"Great firm! An outstanding group of professionals who are knowledgeable and care about their clients. I recommend Julianne and the firm to my clients and friends needing divorce and family law services."
"I felt heard, understood and listened to. Always there when I needed them! Had my best interest at heart and never let me down!"
"Outstanding firm. Try to work with their clients. Listens like a therapist. I am thoroughly pleased with the services I have been provided."
Our practice is entirely dedicated to helping couples move forward with confidence when dealing with divorce. You’re not alone.
Want to know how to prepare for divorce? Use our free resources to guide you. Our mission is to get you to where you want to be — without years of legal fees, court battles and emotional damage.
A divorce lawyer may seem like an extra expense if both parties agree on the big decisions, but the details of a divorce can be complex and hard to navigate without an expert, and getting the agreement properly written ensures that everyone has the security and clarity they need to move forward with their lives. It’s better to do it right the first time than have to keep going back and fixing mistakes. And, in some cases, you may not be able to fix your mistakes.
You should ask a potential divorce lawyer about their prior experience with cases like yours, their approach to negotiations when couples reach a disagreement, and their personal success rate in arriving at a resolution through negotiation and/or mediation.
You cannot have one lawyer serve both parties in a divorce. This would be a conflict of interest. It’s incredibly important that each party feels their individual needs are represented and voiced, and that cannot be done with a single lawyer serving as the representative for both parties.
We are here to help you succeed and protect what you value most.
