Child custody
disputes are usually the most emotionally charged part of any divorce.
You need a San Jose Family Lawyer to help you deal with your legal
issues and make clear decisions regarding the best interest of your
children. The benefits of having a good and experienced San Jose family
lawyer go far beyond a mere capacity to recite to you the current legal
rules and procedures. You will need someone who has seen it before, who
can tell you what to expect, and who is not weighted down by all those
emotionally charged questions about whether you are doing enough for
your children and/or whether visitation time granted to the other party
is somehow the Court’s disapproval of you as a parent (it almost never
is).

California Courts lean towards joint custody arrangements
whenever possible and believe it is in the best interest of children to
have frequent and regular interaction with both parents after the
divorce.

Thomas
Chase Stutzman is a San Jose family law attorney who works with his
clients to create a Parenting Plan to address legal and physical
custody, as well as a visitation schedule, including holidays. Legal
custody entails parental rights and responsibilities regarding
day-to-day decisions, as well as issues such as providing each other
access to the children’s medical and school records and keeping one
another informed of updated contact information. Physical custody deals
with the amount of time the children will spend with each parent, as
well as sharing major holidays. The custodial time can be specified as
to the date, time and location for the exchange of the children.

While
there is no specific age in which a child can decide for themselves
which parent they wish to live with, the Judge may take the child’s
wishes into consideration if they feel the child is of “sufficient age
and maturity” to voice their opinion. The Legislature has tried to draw
this line at age 14; however, it remains to be seen how closely that
estimate of maturity will be followed. Beginning January 1, 2012, a
child 14 years or older can be given the opportunity to address the
Court directly regarding both visitation and custody, unless the
presiding Judge states on the record their reasoning behind denying this
request on the basis that they feel it would not be in the child’s best
interest.

There will probably always be a sound and strong
argument that a child testifying to the Court about which parent they
want to be with can be interpreted by both parents as the child taking
sides. Both the feeling of empowerment on the part of the chosen parent
and the feeling of betrayal on the part of the other parent will be
clearly contrary to the child’s best interests. The possibility that the
child might figure out that they can bargain with both parents, and try
to work out their own best deal should also create substantial concerns
about how the process of trying the essentially extort their own
parents will effect the development of their character and moral code.
Worse, any promises made by either parent in an effort to be chosen by
the child, which promises are not kept, could also lead to the same sort
of disrespect and cynicism now rightfully held out for elected
politicians.

With the clear negatives caused by any protracted
custody dispute it is easy to understand why the Courts in Santa Clara
County will try very hard to get the parents to reach a settlement of
these issues. San Jose Family Law Attorney Thomas Chase Stutzman has
over 35 years of experience in divorce and family law issues in
California. He is a top-notch San Jose Divorce Lawyer and is committed
to providing his clients with diligent and zealous advocacy in their
divorce proceedings. The Law Offices of Thomas Chase Stutzman are
cognizant of the sensitive nature of dealing with family law issues from
different cultures and as such they employ a bilingual staff, including
a paralegal fluent in Mandarin. Contact the Law Office of Thomas Chase
Stutzman at 408 294-4600 (www.tomstutzman.com) for all your family law
needs. The first 30 minutes of initial consultation is free of charge.