Child Custody and Visitation Lawyers

Child Custody and Visitation

Practicing Child Custody & Visitation Law Throughout New York

From both a legal perspective and emotional standpoint, the determination of child custody and visitation can be one of the most difficult aspects of any divorce or separation. The attorneys at Miller Zeiderman LLP have more than a century of combined legal experience in the greater New York Metropolitan area, which provides them with a valuable competitive edge in all family proceedings, regardless of location.

The legal professionals at Miller Zeiderman LLP offer efficient, sincere, and trustworthy counsel for your child-related family law matters. We are flexible enough to work around your busy schedule and offer straightforward legal counsel, which is indispensable in the face of child custody or visitation issues associated with your divorce.

New York Child Custody Lawyers Defending Your Best Interests

Our attorneys make every effort to reach a resolution for your divorce as quickly and efficiently as possible so that you can focus on building your new life. Our services to divorcing clients include helping to determine agreeable custody and visitation arrangements. In New York State, child custody is comprised of two parts: legal custody and residential (physical) custody. Legal custody is the right and responsibility to make decisions about education, medical and healthcare, therapeutic decisions, and religion for a child; residential custody determines where the child will physically live. It is vital to the success of your case to obtain a NY child custody lawyer familiar with all aspects of child custody law.

Legal custody may be shared jointly or may be awarded to one parent as sole legal custody. In a joint custody agreement, both parents contribute to life-shaping decisions; however, sole legal custody allows one parent to make the major life decisions. The parent with whom the child is residing is generally responsible for day-to-day decisions. At the law offices of Miller Zeiderman LLP, we work to resolve custody proceedings in the best interest of both our clients and their children.

Expertly Navigating the Complexities of Legal Custody Cases

While joint legal custody is appropriate in certain situations, there are some cases in which joint custody is, unfortunately, not in the best interest of the children. In determining legal custody in a divorce case, the judge will base his or her decision on protecting the wellbeing of the child. Court decisions in child custody cases are derived from a consideration of many factors, including:

Which parent has been the primary caregiver;
The parenting skills of each spouse;
The mental and physical health of each parent;
The work schedules of each parent;
If a child is old enough, the child’s preference;
Drug or alcohol abuse;
Domestic violence or physical abuse; and
Which parent is most likely to foster a relationship between the child and the other parent

Cases involving custody petitions should only be trusted to the skilled hands of a knowledgeable and experienced NY child custody lawyer. The risk of losing custody of your children is a very serious matter and our attorneys understand that protecting the best interests of your children during a family law case is not to be taken lightly—it is a matter of necessity.

Visitation Rights in New York City

In cases of separation or divorce involving visitation, the court generally seeks to protect the child’s best interests by preserving the relationships between the child and both parents. As long as a child is under 18 years of age, the State of New York will determine visitation matters, including the types of visits allowed and the visitation schedule. Our attorneys can represent you during these difficult proceedings and ensure your parental rights are fully respected. We also assist and represent grandparents seeking visitation rights.

A visitation schedule for non-custodial parents in New York may include:

Weekends, holidays, and weeknight visits.
Supervised visits in cases where there are concerns regarding the child’s safety.
Therapeutic visits supervised by a mental health professional.

If you already have a visitation order to which your ex-spouse has failed to adhere, you can seek to have it enforced or amended with the help of a family law attorney.

Home