Who is the Non-Custodial Parent After a Divorce?
When parents go through a divorce, they must settle legal matters that determine the future of their kids. This includes child custody and child support. This can establish a child’s custodial and non-custodial parent. While the child spends the majority of their time with their custodial parent, the non-custodial parent can play an important part in the child’s life as well. Each parent has different responsibilities that allow them to be involved in their child’s life.
Child Custody
When custody is determined, parents can be given physical and legal custody. The custodial parent has physical custody of their child. This establishes the other parent as the non-custodial parent. While the child does not live with them all the time, they do spend time in their home. Divorce proceedings can designate a certain amount of time the child must spend in the non-custodial parent’s home.
Even if a parent does not have physical custody of their child, they can still attain legal custody. This is because legal custody is in regard to a different aspect of their child’s life. When a parent has legal custody, the parent can be involved in making important decisions throughout the child’s upbringing. This can include matters of healthcare, education, religion, general well-being, and more.
Child Support
Non-custodial parents are required to pay child support. Child support is financial assistance that is paid to the custodial parent to continue financially assisting their child after the divorce. This balances out the child’s cost of living between both parents. These payments cover basic living relating to this child. This can include food, clothing, education, and more. With this, the child can maintain a similar standard of living to what they had before the divorce.
The amount due in child support is determined by a judge. To come to this conclusion, the judge considers several factors such as the needs of the child and the family’s finances. This allows the judge to know what the child needs and what the non-custodial parent can provide.
Can these Arrangements Change?
Judges set custody and support arrangements for what is best for the child at the time based on the family’s current situation. However, life circumstances are subject to change over time. It is because of this that the arrangements can be modified. These adjustments can be made to better suit the current life situation of the family.
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