Omaha Child Custody Lawyer

Get Connected with Our Nebraska Child Custody Lawyers

Going through a divorce can be hard for either or both spouses, but it is especially difficult for the children shared by the two parties. Studies have found that children tend to have the happiest, healthiest lives and the most optimal development in physical, mental, and emotional growth when they have the love and guidance of both their parents.

How is Child Custody Determined in Omaha?

Establishing custody can be very difficult. A lot will depend upon what each parent has done to care for the children during the marriage or if one parent has adopted the more primary provider role than the other parent.

Other factors play a significant role in the judge's determination as well, such as:

• Work schedule
• Flexibility
• Financial ability
• Involvement in the children’s educational needs
• Encouragement of the children's extracurricular pursuits

During this challenging time, you will need compassionate Omaha child custody lawyers who fully understand the nuances of the process. Count on the Hathaway Law Group, P.C. L.L.O. to look after your child’s best interests and achieve the solution that most benefits your family.‍

Contact us online or call our firm at (402) 629-6633 to receive a free consultation with our Omaha child custody attorneys on how to best protect your child’s well-being and custody.

What are Legal Custody & Physical Custody in Nebraska?

There are two aspects of child custody. Both are very important and also very different in characteristics as they apply to you and your children.

The two primary kinds of custody include:

1. Legal Custody

• Legal custody is the right you have as a parent to make or to participate in making significant decisions in your child’s life.
• Decisions such as those which affect the child’s education, health and welfare, and religion. Legal custody includes the critical decisions of your child’s life.

2. Physical custody

• This type of custody is what most people consider when they discuss custody of children. Physical custody is the actual time that each parent spends with the child.
• Recently there has been a movement toward the presumption that joint physical custody is in the child's best interest.
• Joint physical custody is an arrangement where each parent is awarded approximately equal time with the child. Although each jurisdiction has its proclivities, most courts agree that an award of joint physical custody must allow each parent to have a minimum of 40% of the time with the child.
• Joint physical custody, generally, requires that both parents can communicate and maintain a healthy working relationship, with each other, so that they will be successful at co-parenting.

What Are Fathers Rights in Nebraska?

A father in Nebraska has legal rights to full custody, joint custody, and visitation or supervised visitation. As long as the father's name is on the birth certificate, that father will have legal rights to their child. However, if the judge believes the father is an unfit parent, the judge will determine the extent of custodial and visitation rights.

How to Choose Between Joint or Sole Legal Custody

When parents divorce in Omaha and cannot agree, the court must decide for them. For legal custody, the court has two options. First, the court can maintain the presumptive joint legal custody where both parents keep an equal say regarding significant decisions in a child’s life. Or the court can award one parent sole legal custody and, in that case, that parent will make those critical life decisions for the child.

Joint legal custody is the favored approach; however, it does require that parents maintain good communication. The ability to work together to make decisions that are in the best interest of their child.

Choosing Between Joint or Sole Physical Custody

When parents are unable to work together, unable to co-parent, or one parent is unfit, unwilling, or unable to discharge the duties necessary to parent their child the court may award sole physical custody to one parent. Sole physical custody is when one parent has the primary parenting responsibility of the child. The parent not awarded sole physical custody will have a parenting time as set forth by the court. 

The recent movement toward presumptive joint physical custody is a rebuttal presumption. This means that if either parent can prove the other is unable to co-parent or discharge parental duties as a single parent, joint custody should not be ordered.

Because these situations are so complicated, let our family law attorneys in Omaha support you in sorting out all the intricate details.

Call our Omaha family law lawyers today at (402) 629-6633 or contact us online today. We can answer all of your questions related to child custody.

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