How Is Child Custody Decided in Los Angeles, California?
Child custody is often one of the most difficult and emotionally charged issues in a California family law case. When parents cannot agree on a parenting plan, the court must determine custody and visitation based upon the best interests of the child.
In Los Angeles, child custody decisions are governed by California law. The court may consider numerous factors, including the child’s health, safety, and welfare; the history and nature of each parent’s involvement with the child; allegations of domestic violence or substance abuse; and other circumstances affecting the child’s best interests.
An experienced Los Angeles family lawyer can help a parent understand how these factors may apply to the particular facts of a custody case and how to present those facts effectively to the court.
What Does “Best Interests of the Child” Mean in California?
California courts determine custody based upon the best interests of the child. California Family Code §§ 3011 and 3020 provide important guidance regarding the factors courts consider when making custody orders.
The child’s health, safety, and welfare are a primary concern.
Depending upon the circumstances, a court may consider factors including:
- The child’s age, health, and individual needs;
- The nature and amount of contact the child has with each parent;
- Each parent’s history of caring for and involvement with the child;
- The stability and continuity of the child’s environment;
- Any history of abuse or domestic violence;
- Habitual or continual abuse of alcohol or controlled substances;
- The child’s relationship with parents, siblings, and other important individuals;
- The ability of the parents to provide a safe and stable environment; and
- Other circumstances relevant to the child’s health, safety, and welfare.
There is no single custody arrangement that is appropriate for every family. The court’s determination depends upon the particular facts and circumstances of the case.
Legal Custody vs. Physical Custody
California distinguishes between legal custody and physical custody.
Legal custody concerns the right and responsibility to make important decisions regarding a child’s health, education, and welfare. Parents may share joint legal custody, or one parent may be awarded sole legal custody.
Physical custody concerns where the child lives and how parenting time is divided between the parents. A court may order joint physical custody or may designate one parent as having primary physical custody while the other parent has parenting time.
Joint legal custody does not necessarily mean that the parents will have equal parenting time, and a 50/50 parenting schedule is not automatically required simply because parents share legal custody.
Does California Favor 50/50 Custody?
There is no automatic rule requiring a California court to divide parenting time equally between parents.
California public policy generally favors children having frequent and continuing contact with both parents when doing so is consistent with the child’s best interests. However, the court’s ultimate responsibility is to fashion a parenting plan that serves the individual child’s health, safety, welfare, and overall best interests.
Depending upon the circumstances, that may result in approximately equal parenting time, primary custody with one parent, or another parenting schedule appropriate for the family.
What Happens When Parents Cannot Agree on Custody in Los Angeles?
When parents cannot agree upon custody and parenting time, either parent may ask the court to make custody orders.
In Los Angeles County, parents involved in a disputed custody matter generally participate in mediation through Family Court Services before the court determines contested custody and visitation issues. The process is intended to provide parents an opportunity to reach an agreement concerning their children.
If the parents reach an agreement, their parenting plan may be presented to the court for approval. If they cannot resolve the dispute, the judicial officer may determine the contested issues after considering the evidence and applicable California law.
Depending upon the case, custody litigation may involve declarations, documentary evidence, witness testimony, expert testimony, or other admissible evidence relevant to the child’s best interests.
Domestic Violence Can Significantly Affect Child Custody
Domestic violence is particularly important in California custody proceedings.
Under California Family Code § 3044, when a court finds that a parent seeking custody has perpetrated domestic violence against the other parent, the child, or certain other persons within the preceding five years, a rebuttable presumption may arise that awarding that parent sole or joint physical or legal custody is detrimental to the child’s best interests.
The § 3044 presumption can have a substantial impact on a custody determination. The court must apply the statutory framework and consider the factors required by law in determining whether the presumption has been rebutted.
Because domestic violence findings can significantly affect custody rights, cases involving restraining orders or allegations of abuse should be approached carefully and strategically.
Can a Child Choose Which Parent to Live With?
California does not establish a particular age at which a child simply gets to decide where to live.
Under California Family Code § 3042, the court must consider and give due weight to a child’s wishes if the child is of sufficient age and capacity to form an intelligent preference regarding custody or visitation.
A child who is 14 years of age or older generally must be permitted to address the court regarding custody or visitation if the child wishes to do so, unless the court determines that doing so would not be in the child’s best interests.
That does not mean a 14-year-old controls the custody decision. The child’s preference is one factor considered as part of the court’s overall best-interest analysis.
Can Existing Child Custody Orders Be Changed?
Yes. Child custody and parenting-time orders may potentially be modified when circumstances warrant a change.
The applicable legal standard can depend upon the nature of the existing order. For example, modification of a final judicial custody determination may implicate California’s changed-circumstances rule, while other custody orders may be evaluated directly under the best-interest standard.
Common reasons parents seek modification include significant changes in a child’s needs or schedule, relocation, changes in a parent’s circumstances, concerns regarding the child’s health or safety, or a parenting arrangement that is no longer workable.
The existence of changed circumstances does not automatically mean that custody will be modified. The court remains focused on the child’s best interests and the applicable legal standard.
What Happens if a Parent Wants to Move Away With the Child?
Relocation or “move-away” cases can be among the most difficult child custody disputes.
When a parent proposes moving with a child to another city, state, or country, the court may need to determine whether the proposed relocation requires modification of the existing custody arrangement.
The legal analysis depends substantially upon the existing custody orders and the facts of the case. Courts may consider the distance of the proposed move, the child’s age and needs, the child’s relationship with each parent, the reasons for the proposed relocation, the ability to maintain the child’s relationship with the nonmoving parent, and other circumstances affecting the child’s best interests.
Move-away cases are highly fact-specific and can require substantial preparation and evidence.
What Evidence Matters in a Child Custody Case?
A custody case should be built around evidence relevant to the child’s best interests rather than simply the parents’ disagreements with one another.
Depending upon the issues involved, relevant evidence may include:
- Parenting schedules and the history of each parent’s involvement;
- School and educational records;
- Medical or mental-health information when properly admissible and relevant;
- Communications between the parents;
- Evidence concerning domestic violence or substance abuse;
- Evidence concerning a child’s routines and needs;
- Testimony from appropriate witnesses;
- Evidence regarding each parent’s ability to support the child’s relationship with the other parent, when appropriate; and
- Other admissible evidence bearing upon the child’s health, safety, and welfare.
High-conflict custody cases often benefit from careful organization of the evidence and a clear distinction between facts that are legally significant and disputes that may be emotionally important to the parents but have little bearing on the court’s custody determination.
Los Angeles Child Custody Attorney
Child custody disputes can range from disagreements over parenting schedules to complex litigation involving domestic violence, relocation, substance abuse, parental conflict, or significant concerns regarding a child’s welfare.
Atighechi Law Group represents parents in Los Angeles County in contested child custody and visitation matters, including complex and high-conflict cases.
Maryam Atighechi is a Certified Family Law Specialist and experienced family law trial attorney based in Beverly Hills, California.