Custody & Parenting Plans
Before making any decisions that could lead to a loss of parenting time or unfair division of parental responsibilities, contact the family law attorneys at Clark Law Offices to obtain important legal advice.
The State of New Hampshire has replaced the terms “custody” and “visitation” with “parenting rights and responsibilities” in its forms and encouraged attorneys and parents to move away from the use of the words “custody” and “visitation”.
Married couples going through a divorce, and unmarried parents, must have a Parenting Plan. The Parenting Plan addresses decision making responsibility for major decisions like non-emergency health, education, and religious training, day-to-day decision making, the routine weekly schedule, holidays and birthday schedules, three-day weekend schedules, vacation and summer schedules, residence for school purposes, transportation for parenting exchanges, supervised parenting (if necessary), access to medical and school records, phone contact between parents and children, written/email contact between parents and children, relocation, disputes over parenting issues and other related issues.
If parents cannot agree on parenting issues, the Court may appoint a Guardian ad Litem to investigate and make recommendations on decision making authority, the parenting schedule, supervised parenting, relocation and any other issues the Court deems appropriate in connection with parenting.
Parents must also have a Uniform Support Order which addresses child support, wage assignment, medical coverage for children, allocation of uninsured expenses for children and adjudication if paternity had to be determined.
The family law attorneys at Clark Law Offices can answer your questions about how an appropriate parenting schedule is determined based upon the age of the children, the physical proximity of the parents, and many other considerations.
There are many reasons why a parent may seek modification of an existing “custody” order including emergency and non-emergency issues which may arise. In addition, as a child matures, a child may indicate a desire to reside with a specific parent. Whatever the issue, our family law attorneys can discuss what the Courts look for as a basis for modification and how best to proceed.
If you are interested in talking to one of our attorneys, we offer a free initial consultation and evening appointments by phone or at our office. Contact Clark Law Offices now at (603) 669-8700 for more information.
