Ocean Springs Divorce: Who Gets The Kids?
If you are here, you are trying to figure out who gets the kids in an Ocean Springs divorce.
If you are going to fight over kids and who gets them then you definitely need an Ocean Springs divorce lawyer.
But, BEFORE you hire a lawyer, read my book FIRST!
If you haven’t read my blog about How To Lose Your Kids, read it now.
First, these cases are filed in chancery court.
Any Ocean Springs divorce is decided by a chancery court judge.
Ocean Springs Divorce: Who Gets The Kids?
The Mississippi Supreme Court has given certain guidelines on how the chancery court judge is supposed to decide who gets the kids in an Ocean Springs divorce.
A divorce case called Albright v. Albright set out the things a chancery court judge is supposed to consider when deciding who gets the kids.
Ocean Springs Divorce: Who Gets The Kids?
Here are what the judge looks at:
*Age, sex, health of children
*Continuity of care before the separation
*Parenting skills
*Willingness to be the primary caregive
*Employment
*Health of parents
*Emotional ties between children and the parents
*Moral fitness of the parents
*School record of the children
*Age of the children
*Children’s preference
*Stability of the home environment
*Any other factors that may affect custody
So in discussing one of the above factors, what the heck does continuity of care mean?
It means just what it says: who was taking care of the kids before the separation?
In other words, who was the main person who took care of the kids?
Who gave the kids baths?
Who helped the kids brush their teeth?
Who read bedtime stories to the kids?
Who took the kids to their baseball or football practice?
Who help the kids with their homework?
Who met with the kids’ teachers about school?
The chancery judge’s decision is crucial because if you win the case in chancery court, it is usually very unlikely this decision will get changed on appeal.
If you are arguing with your spouse about who is going to get the kids, then you will need an Ocean Springs divorce lawyer.
But, BEFORE you hire one, read my book FIRST!
I’ll talk about appeals in a later post on this.
