TAG

Custody & parenting

Parenting time, evaluations, and third-party access.

FAM-01 · 01

Temporary Orders During Divorce: Housing, Finances, Support, and Parenting

8 MIN · FAM

Interim orders decide who lives where, who pays what, and when each parent sees the children while the case is pending. They are decided fast, on paper, and they tend to stick.

Divorce is state law. What a court can order on an interim basis, and how fast, differs materially from one state to the next.
Temporary orders are usually decided on affidavits and documents rather than live testimony, which makes exhibit quality the deciding factor.
Several states attach automatic restraining provisions to the divorce summons, freezing asset transfers and insurance changes without any hearing.

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FAM-03 · 02

Custody Evaluations, Guardians ad Litem, and Child Representatives

8 MIN · FAM

Three different appointments get confused with each other constantly. This brief separates the evaluator, the guardian ad litem, and the child's attorney, then walks the evaluation itself.

These are three distinct roles with different duties. Some states define all three by statute; others use one label for functions that vary by county.
Custody evaluations are normally conducted by licensed mental-health professionals under state rules plus professional guidelines that are not themselves law.
A guardian ad litem advocates for the child's best interests; an attorney for the child usually advocates for what the child wants.

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FAM-04 · 03

Grandparent and Third-Party Visitation: Constitutional and State-Law Limits

8 MIN · FAM

A fit parent's decision about who sees their child carries constitutional weight. This brief sets the ceiling Troxel established, then the state statutes that operate beneath it.

Troxel v. Granville (2000) struck down a Washington third-party visitation statute as applied and required special weight for a fit parent's decision.
Troxel produced no majority opinion and left open whether a showing of harm to the child is constitutionally required.
States rewrote their statutes around Troxel and now differ on standing, threshold conditions, burden of proof, and available remedies.

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FAM-07 · 04

Enforcing a Parenting Order: Contempt, Make-Up Time, and Remedies

8 MIN · FAM

Most enforcement motions fail on the record rather than on the law. This brief covers what remedies exist, what proof each one needs, and which problems a court will not solve.

Custody and parenting time are governed by state law. Remedies, standards of proof, and expedited procedures differ substantially between states.
Civil contempt is coercive and requires a present ability to comply; criminal contempt punishes past conduct and carries criminal procedural protections.
Make-up parenting time, cost reimbursement, and fee awards are ordered far more often than any sanction involving custody.

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