Child Custody Lawyer in Hackensack, NJ

New Jersey courts, first and foremost, consider the best interests of a child when awarding custody whether the parents are married, going through a divorce, or were never married. 

Our Hackensack child custody lawyers have over 35 years of experience helping parents negotiate and craft child custody arrangements that serve the best interests of their children. If you need help negotiating, litigating, or modifying your child custody arrangement, contact our child custody lawyers to discuss your concerns. Put an experienced and dedicated attorney to work for your family.

How a Hackensack Child Custody Lawyer Can Help

If the parents cannot agree on a child custody arrangement, New Jersey Family Part judges determine what custody and parenting time arrangements are in a child’s best interests. 

Our family law attorneys excel at assisting you in settling custody and parenting disputes. Settlement is favored by the Family Part judges due to the damaging effects that protracted litigation inflicts on children. However, if necessary, we have the skill and expertise to litigate on your behalf at trial or defend your interests on appeal. 

As your lawyers, we will advise you regarding what factors a Family Part judge will take into consideration and how best to present your side of the issues. When necessary, we will ask the court to order a “best interests” evaluation of a child by a forensic psychologist. The court may also appoint a guardian ad litem who will conduct an investigation and provide a recommendation to the judge handling your case. 

Our child custody lawyers work with you to develop the evidence needed to support your case and show that your custody arrangement is in the best interest of your child or children. To speak with our Hackensack child custody lawyers, contact Cowen & Jacobs right away to discover how we can best help you advocate for your child’s best interests.

Our Child Custody Attorneys Excel at Resolving Complex Custody Disputes

Cowen & Jacobs is a Hackensack, New Jersey law firm focused on protecting the rights and interests of our clients, including those clients with complex child custody and parenting time issues.

Our experienced Hackensack child custody lawyers have successfully helped parents negotiate, litigate, and appeal a host of complex child custody and parenting issues, including but not limited to: 

•  Parents who must travel for work
•  Parents who work overseas, or are on active military duty
•  Parents who have substance abuse problems
•  Parents with a criminal history
•  Parents who live in different states (determining whether New Jersey or another state has jurisdiction to rule on child custody and parenting time issues pursuant to the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act)
• Parents who want to remove their child from the United States
• Parents who seek the return of their child after the other parent has unlawfully removed the child from the jurisdiction of the State of New Jersey to another state or to another country.

We have also successfully incorporated third parties into custody arrangements such as grandparents and step-parents, when dictated by the best interests of the child. Our  child custody lawyers will work tirelessly with you to protect parental rights and get the best child custody and parenting time arrangement for your family.

Understanding New Jersey Custody Law

There are many terms to be familiar with when you are thinking about what sort of child custody arrangement would be best for your family and when you begin engaging in custody negotiations. Here are some important definitions to know:

Legal Custody

Legal custody provides each parent with the right to make parenting decisions about the child’s education, medical care, and other major decisions. There is a presumption that both biological parents will retain legal custody.

Most divorced parents or separated unmarried parents continue to share legal custody of their children and collaborate on their children’s upbringing. Respectful and consistent co-parenting, free from conflict, is always considered to be in a child’s best interests.

Physical Custody

The parent with whom the child resides has physical custody. There is also a presumption that it is best for both parents to share responsibility for the child’s day-to-day care and well-being.  That is why, when joint residential custody is agreed upon or ordered by the court, it is often 50/50. 

If physical custody is not shared 50/50, one parent becomes the Parent of Primary Residence (PPR), meaning that the children reside with that parent most of the time. The other parent will be the Parent of Alternate Residence (PAR). 

The number of overnights in the parenting plan will be a factor in determining the amount of child support payable by the PAR to the PPR. Whether a parent is the PPR or PAR, they continue to have equally shared legal custody, also referred to as joint legal custody.

Sole Custody

Sole legal custody and sole physical custody of children are awarded to a parent in the relatively rare cases where the other parent is deemed by the court to be unfit or is unable to or refuses to co-parent in the child’s best interests.

Parenting Plan

It is always in the child’s best interests to have a close and loving relationship with each parent.  Therefore, regardless of which parent is the PPR or even if one parent has sole legal and physical custody, there must be an opportunity in most instances for the child to spend time alone with each parent. 

A parenting plan can be very detailed in order to avoid any ambiguity and post-judgment conflict. General speaking the parenting plan will set forth at least the following terms including but not limited to:

• Ordinary parenting time, which is the number of days and overnights the child spends with each parent on a weekly basis.
• Holidays: with which parent will the child spend all or part of Halloween, Thanksgiving, religious holidays (for example Christmas or Rosh Hashanah, etc ), or legal holidays such as July 4th and Labor Day. Holidays usually alternate on a yearly basis except that Mother’s Day is always with the mother and Father’s Day with the father. Holidays and special days preempt ordinary parenting time and vacation time.
• Vacation time with the child: Both parents are encouraged to spend some vacation time with the child.