You may not be entirely satisfied with the child custody agreement the New Jersey family court decided upon on your behalf in your litigated divorce case proceedings. Or, you and your spouse may be in the midst of your divorce, and wish to take matters into your own hands and control how this custody arrangement works out. Either way, you may need the court to approve of these proposed plans. With that being said, please read on to discover whether the court will deny your modified custody arrangement and how a seasoned Morristown child custody lawyer at Graves Andrews, LLC, can help execute this successfully.
Can a new custody arrangement be made without court intervention?
Say you have not yet gotten divorced from your spouse. Well, if you two have remained amicable despite your decision to split, you may try to draft a child custody arrangement independently. You may seek the guidance of a neutral, third-party mediator, but otherwise, this may be done completely outside of a court setting. The only time the New Jersey family court will intervene is when it decides whether to approve and enact it.
However, if your spouse is unagreeable and unwilling to compromise on even just one of your proposed terms, this may become a litigated issue that must go to the court right away. The same goes for when you are already divorced with an existing arrangement, but you wish to modify it. That is, if your former spouse is completely fine with how things are now, you may have to file a post-judgment modification with the court. Importantly, you must abide by your existing plan until the court decides on your newly proposed one.
Can a court deny a proposed, modified child custody arrangement?
Of note, even if you and your spouse are in complete agreement with your newly proposed child custody arrangement, this does not necessarily mean that the New Jersey family court has to approve of it. That said, below are valid reasons for the court to deny it:
- The court may believe that the new arrangement does not work in the child’s best interest and may rather harm them.
- The court may believe that the new arrangement is unnecessary given the lack of changes in circumstances with both parents and the child.
- The court may believe that the new arrangement is an unfair attempt to limit one parent’s access and rights over the child.
- The court may believe that the new arrangement would unfavorably disrupt the child’s life, which they have finally adjusted to post-divorce.
- The court may believe that the new arrangement does not cover critical terms like parental rights, visitation schedules, child support, etc.
We understand just how overwhelming all of this can be for you. So, if you have any remaining questions, please consult with a competent Morristown family law attorney. The team at Graves Andrews, LLC is willing and able to provide you with legal assistance in any capacity.