Impact of Financial Issues on Virginia Child Custody Cases

Technically, financial concerns will not impact custody so long as the financial issues are not impacting a parent’s ability to care for children. However, in extreme circumstances, for example, if a party loses their home and has to move into a smaller place that is not appropriate for however many children they are caring for, that could impact custody.

It is not all that common to see custody changed based on financial circumstances. Custodial arrangements that exist between two parties can dictate how much the court says they are going to have to pay for children and that is another consideration.

To discuss how finances may affect your current child custody agreement in Virginia, it is pertinent that you contact a lawyer to discuss these potential child custody issues as soon as possible.

Calculating Finances

As long as each parent has shown the ability financially to provide a healthy and appropriate environment for children, then that usually is the end of the consideration for the court. A court will want to know if a person has a home that has heating or cooling as appropriate. Further, they will want to know if a person has enough space in their home to provide each child their individual space.

For example, if an individual has teenagers and there is a boy and a girl, usually the court is not going to place the children primarily with a parent who only has one bedroom for the two if they have another option. At that age they should, ideally, have a separate space. Beyond that, it is not all that common for finances to impact a custody determination in Virginia.

Discussing Finances

The best advice for parents discussing how their finances will affect their Virginia child custody arrangements is to ensure that the children are not witness to or made part of disputes between parents. Each parent, no matter how angry they may be at the other at the time, must foster love and affection between the children. Both parents must be certain, absent extenuating circumstances that might be dangerous, to ensure that the children have positive and regular contact with both parents.

Role of a Lawyer

The role a lawyer has is sort of multi-faceted. A custody attorney should be advising clients generally in terms of how to insulate children from the conflicts that may exist. The custody attorney has the ability to provide a parent with a strategy in terms of how to set up the best scenario that gives them the greatest likelihood of prevailing and getting what they are looking for in terms of custody.

Since there is no strict formula or mathematical equation that a court has to apply to decide what is best for the children for a custody situation, a custody lawyer is extremely helpful in advising a parent on the factors that the court is going to consider and how the facts of their case will apply to those specific legal factors the court is supposed to consider.

A custody attorney will help a parent understand how their finances will affect their agreement, and put together the best evidence possible in line with the factors the court is required to consider to give that parent the best chance possible in achieving their goal for custody.