Custody Conundrums: Should Siblings Always Be Together?
Child custody is far from a simple issue when parents face divorce. The family court system thinks so too. That is why they scrutinize everything about minor-aged children when it comes to divorce, separation, and other parenting issues. One aspect of child custody that comes up time and time again is whether or not siblings should be kept together when making arrangements. Read on and make the best decision you can for your situation.
Custody in General
Parents have several options when it comes to child custody. Custody is divided into legal and physical custody. Unless one parent has lost parenting privileges, both parents share legal responsibility for the child or children, jointly. Parents who are incarcerated, convicted criminals, incapacitated, child abusers, and more may lose their parental rights. Legal custody means both parents are expected to make decisions together about issues like religion, education, discipline, health matter, and more.
Normally, the issue of physical custody is where contention can arise. With sole physical custody, one parent has primary responsibility for the day-to-day care of the child. The other parent, in most cases, spends time with the child during scheduled visitation. With shared physical custody, the child goes back and forth and spends approximately 50% of the time with each parent.
Siblings Together
In most cases, separating siblings only adds to the anxiety and insecurity that a divorce situation can bring. For the most part, parents would have to have a very convincing argument for the judge to consider doing anything other than allowing all the natural children of the parents to live in a single home.
Siblings Apart
The meaning of family has changed throughout the years. Additionally, siblings may be very spread out in age. In some cases, siblings are so far apart in age that they would be unaffected by a separation. While rare, some situations call for split custody for siblings:
- When siblings don't get along with each other.
- When one sibling has a special relationship with one parent or the other.
- When one sibling has a particular wish to reside with one parent separate from the others. Often, judges will listen to older children in this matter.
- Special needs children may need to reside with the parent who does the best job of caring for the child. They may be separated from their siblings if their care in addition to the care of the other children is too burdensome for one parent.
- In cases where one sibling has educational, health, or other reasons to reside with one parent.
For more information about divorce law and how a judge handles siblings and custody issues, speak to your divorce lawyer.