custody

In making custody and visitation decisions, Pennsylvania courts look to various factors in determining what is in the “best interest of the child.” The factors weighed by the court include: (1) the well-reasoned preference of the child, based on the child’s maturity and judgment; (2) the need for stability and continuity in the child’s education, family life and community life; (3) which parent is more likely to foster a relationship between the noncustodial parent and the child; (4) each parent’s history of violent or abusive conduct; and (5) specific criminal convictions.

This legal advisory opinion found that a divorced woman is not entitled to the typical social allowance provided to married individuals by their employers.  The woman, unnamed in the opinion, applied for the allowance because she has custody of her minor son.  The opinion states that the allowance can be only provided to married women with children whose husband is unemployed, jobless, or incapacitated.  A divorced woman cannot benefit from this support even if she is the sole custodian of her child.  Nonetheless, this Advisory Opinion requests that the Qatar Legisl

In Ancich v. Ancich, the Arizona Court of Appeals affirmed the issuance of an order of protection in favor of the respondent against her former husband. The parties, who shared joint custody of their minor son, had divorced in 2003. In 2008, the respondent sought an order of protection alleging that the petitioner had physically abused their son and threatened her.

In Campbell v. Martin, 2002 ME 112, plaintiff had obtained a protective order against the defendant in Kentucky because she feared that the defendant would abuse her and their daughter. Subsequently, the defendant threatened to kill the plaintiff, and the plaintiff fled to Maine with her daughter, where she filed for a protective order. The district court granted a temporary protective order. Subsequently, the plaintiff filed for custody of their daughter. The district court found that it could not grant the plaintiff custody as Maine was not the daughter’s home state.

In Case No. 9886-2024, the Supreme Court reviewed the case of a woman, sentenced to four years in Iquique Prison for drug trafficking, who requested to substitute her prison term with full house arrest due to inhumane detention conditions and her caregiving responsibilities toward her newborn daughter.

Among other things, the Children’s Status Act gives children born out of wedlock the same legal privileges as children born to married couples (e.g., inheritance rights, custody, guardianship, etc.) and provides various legal mechanisms (e.g., court orders) to protect these rights. 

Under the Civil Code, same-sex marriages are prohibited. In case of a divorce by mutual consent, the marriage can be dissolved if over a year has elapsed, the spouses have made a contract regarding divorce consequences, and they have full active legal capacity. If a couple has children, they have equal rights and duties as parents, regardless of whether they were married, divorced, or separated. A parent cannot surrender their rights or responsibilities over underage children.

In this case, the Rhode Island Supreme Court held that a parent seeking to relocate out of the country with children in their custody need not make a showing that their reasons for relocation are “compelling.” Rather, the Court cited the “time-honored axiom that the primary consideration and paramount concern in all matters relating to custody is the best interests of the child.” In determining the child’s best interests, requiring a parent to demonstrate that the reason for moving was compelling would overly burden a

This law defines “customary marriage” as the marriage between a man and a woman performed according to the tribal tradition of their locality and provides that a wife’s rights and duties within a customary marriage are the same as a wife’s rights and duties in a statutory marriage (a statutory marriage is a civil marriage license under the Domestic Relations Law).  §2.1 provides that all customary marriages are legal, and the duties and liabilities of the statutory wife shall be accorded to all customary wives.

The appellant and respondent are divorced parents of three children. At the time of the divorce, custody of the children was awarded to the respondent. The appellant then moved for an interim protection order, claiming that the respondent physically abused their minor children. A court granted the interim protection order on October 3, 2011, and awarded the appellant interim custody of the children, subject to visitation by the respondent, and ordered respondent to cease abusing the children.