Custody Lawyers in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County

Custody rights fall into two different categories: physical custody rights and legal custody rights. Physical custody is the actual physical possession and control of a minor child. Pennsylvania statutes further define physical custody based upon the amount of overnights each parent or third party spends with the minor children. There are different types of physical custody, including:

• Sole Physical Custody – Sole custody is the award of custody rights to one parent with no custody rights to the other parent. Sole physical custody is rarely awarded by Pennsylvania family court judges.
• Primary Physical Custody – Primary custody is the right of one parent to have the majority of custodial time with a minor child or minor children.
• Partial Physical Custody – Partial custody is the right to take possession of a minor child or minor children away from the custodial parent and may include the right to have overnight custody with the child or children.
• Shared Physical Custody – Shared physical custody (sometimes referred to as joint physical custody, joint custody, or shared custody) is the term used to designate frequent and continuing contact between the minor child or children and their parents. This term is utilized most frequently by the Pennsylvania family courts when the actual custody time is split anywhere from 60/40 to 50/50.
• Visitation – Visitation is the right to spend time with a minor child or minor children but not the right to remove the child or children from the custodial parent’s presence or control. Sometimes visitation is directed as supervised visitation, meaning that the parent must have another trusted person observe the exercise of visitation rights. Other times visitation is exercised as unsupervised visitation.

Ultimately, the PA courts will want to do whatever is in the best interest of the children you share with your former partner, and in most cases, this will be a shared physical custody arrangement so that both parents have the opportunity to spend an equal amount of quality time with their children.

However, if there is reason to believe that this is not in the best interests of your children, another physical custody arrangement can be implemented.

Legal Custody Requirements

In Pennsylvania, legal custody is the right to make important decisions that impact children, including decisions regarding education, religion, and medical care. If parents are able to cooperate in any minimal fashion, shared legal custody is often ordered. Under a shared legal custody arrangement, the parents share the responsibility for making major decisions.

If you are entering into a sole legal custody arrangement, then the parent who has sole physical custody on a given day will make routine day-to-day decisions impacting a minor child without having to consult with the child’s other parent.

Pennsylvania Custody Issues

Unfortunately, no matter which type of custody plan you have, there is a strong possibility that you and your child’s other parent will disagree on certain points or have other points of contention. In addition to physical custody and legal custody issues, parents with PA custody cases also face issues involving:

• Relocation or moving with a child that impacts the other parent’s custodial time
• Enforcing or modifying an existing custody order
• Determining which court will hear a custody case, also known as jurisdiction standing, or who can file for custody rights
• Best-interest-of-child factors the judges will use to determine custody
• Grandparents’ rights

Our firm is prepared to assist you in any of the aforementioned custody disputes. If you are having other issues that have not been described above, reach out to our highly trained Pittsburgh child custody attorneys for further assistance.

Pittsburgh Child Custody FAQ

Every child custody case is different from the next, so even if you have been through this process before, chances are you have questions about what to expect when you have to retain an attorney to resolve your Pittsburgh child custody disputes.

With this in mind, we have addressed some of the most commonly asked questions that families going through the same issues as you need answers to. If your questions have not been answered here, you can contact our office directly for more information.

What does a typical shared custody arrangement look like?

For families who have both shared physical and legal custody, the children will not primarily reside with either parent. Instead, they might spend three or four days out of the week at one parent’s home and the other days of the week at the other parent’s home.

Both parents will be responsible for making important decisions regarding their children’s wellbeing and will need to be able to work together through any and all issues that arise in order for such an arrangement to be successful.

How do I modify an existing child custody plan?

When you are interested in modifying your existing child custody order, you will need to petition the court that issued your original child custody plan to do so. If both parties agree to the modifications and the courts are able to see that such modifications are to the benefit of your children, then you can expect the judge to grant your modification petition.

What do I do if my children’s other parent is interfering with our custody plan?

In the event that your child’s other parent is not complying with your court-ordered custody plan, we can initiate a contempt action against them, as interfering with a custody plan is against the law. During this time, it may be in your best interest to seek a custody modification.

Once resolved, you may be awarded makeup time for the time you lost with your children. The courts may also decide to impose other sanctions against the parent who was not compliant with the existing child custody arrangement.