What a family looks like has been rapidly changing over the past few decades—no longer do we have a common family and are more turning to modern family structures. Beginning in the 1960s and accelerating significantly since then, changes in marriage, divorce, legal separation, cohabitation, and nonmarital familial creation have transformed family life, and therefore family law.
While how our families look continues to change, the role of the family continues to be raising children and caring for elderly family members.
Allocation of Parental Responsibilities and Rights
No matter your family structure, our laws regarding children are primarily focused on what is in the best interest of the children. When families are dissolving, these rights and responsibilities are divided among the parents—this division of rights can become a very contentious process.
These rights and responsibilities are not necessarily given to the biological parents as our laws allow for grandparents and stepparents to petition the courts for rights. In some cases, these individuals may be granted the legal rights of parents, thereby taking some rights away from the actual parent.
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Duty of Discipline
Disciplining children is always a hot-button issue. Attitudes toward corporal punishment are ever-changing and differ widely among different groups of people. While Virginia does allow corporal punishment, the parent must be reasonable. What is reasonable is not solidly defined, but we have heard one judge say anything that would be viewed as depraved is too far. When deciding what is too far, the court will view each family, and each case, separately.
Right to Custody and Care
The Supreme Court gives parents a constitutional right to make decisions over their child’s companionship, custody, care, and control, this is the legal custody of your children. Parents are given the right to autonomously raise their children under the presumption that they act in their child’s best interest. However, if the custody and visitation of your children are in front of the Court, the judge can divide legal custody however she/he sees fit—using the best interest of the children standard.
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Visitation Rights
Parent’s visitation rights, physical custody, are dependent upon their role as a parent. Even in the cases of abuse or substance addiction, the courts will often grant visitation, although it may be supervised, in order to protect the parent/child relationship. However, if there is a clear showing of physical or emotional danger to the child, the court can block a parent from seeing the children at all.
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Right to Determine Medical Decisions
The right to make medical decisions regarding children is always important, and this falls under legal custody. Parents are given the role of providing this consent before any medical treatment is administered to a child. Parents are not required to consult with the child before making this decision and even have the right to choose a treatment course to which the child objects.
About Melone Hatley, P.C.
As families continue to evolve and change, there always be situations where the family members do not agree on how best to move forward. The top-rated attorneys at Melone Hatley, P.C. are here to help! Melone Hatley, P.C. is a family and estate firm serving Virginia Beach, Richmond, and Northern Virginia. Our philosophy is to provide all of our clients with the highest quality legal representation, innovative legal solutions, and unsurpassed dedication to customer service. Through our high standards, we strive to be a trusted resource to our clients.
We know from experience that a successful attorney-client relationship depends on our ability to understand your needs and objectives. For more information about child custody, contact our Client Services Coordinator at 800-479-8124 or book your appointment online.
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