Joint Custody Agreements and Visitation Schedules – Disregarding Child Support

Child support can play a huge part in the child custody process since it may serve as the motive behind various custody requests.A mother may try to get sole custody of her child in order to ensure that the father pays the maximum amount of child support. She may want to “take him for everything he has”.A father may try to get sole custody so that he will pay little or no child support to the mother. He may want to try to ensure that he not have to “pay his ex-wife one dime” of child support.Parents like this don’t consider the actual expenses of raising a child. They may not even care that the more time they have the child, the more money they are going to spend on the child’s care. They are just focused on either getting more money from the other parent or paying less money to the other parent. Child support is money for the care of the child, not the other parent.Realistically, child support should not have anything to do with the amount of time a child spends with you and the other parent. You can fight over alimony if money is that important to you, but a good parent will completely disregard child support when creating the custody arrangements for their child.Good parents will work together to create a joint custody agreement that is best for their child. Most courts have some type of formula they use to calculate the amount of child support that a parent is ordered to pay. Good parents create their joint custody visitation schedules according to the needs of their children and let the judge worry about the amount of child support that either parent may have to pay.The amount of time your child spends with each of you should be based on what is best for your child, not money. Children benefit from having the ability to spent time with both of their parents. They need love and affection from both parents. They should never have to feel as if they are just visiting with one parent while being raised by the other. Co-parenting a child of divorce may not always be easy, but there are ways to accomplish it and successfully raise your child together even though you live apart.You should also keep in mind that the family court judges see thousands and thousands of cases a year. A parent requesting sole custody for selfish reasons should consider that they are walking on very thin ice if they attempt to persuade the judge into giving them sole custody for selfish reasons. Quite often, this can backfire and the judge may give custody to the parent that is more likely to facilitate a relationship with the child and the other parent. The court’s main concern in custody cases is the child’s well-being.When you remove child support from the equation, you should be able to create a custody plan that truly benefits your child. You may have bitter or hurt feelings now, and lashing out may feel like a natural reaction, but your feelings will fade over time. Your custody agreement will be in effect until your child reaches adulthood or you return to court to modify it. You should really think about the big picture when creating your parenting plan so that you can create the best plan for your child.