Divorce is almost always difficult, even when the couple works through the process without hard feelings. Of the many contentious issues that are likely to arise over the course of a divorce, those concerning children tend to be the thorniest of all.
Whereas questions about custody often receive a good deal of attention, there are related concerns that sometimes go overlooked. legal decision-making attorneys in Gilbert, AZ like those at The law firm of Janet R. Feeley L.L.C. help local parents make sure that their children will always be appropriately protected.
Minors Need the Guidance and Direction of Informed, Engaged Adults
Children, of course, are not legally allowed to make many significant decisions on their own. Reaching the age of majority is a requirement for everything from binding participation in contracts to owning real property and many other important kinds of decisions.
When children remain in the joint custody of their married parents, responsibility for making legal decisions involving them naturally devolves on both in their combined status under the law. When parents decide to divorce, questions regarding who will retain this authority must be resolved along the way.
Lawyers Help Make Sure Locals Can Continue to Safeguard Their Children
Legal decision-making attorneys in Gilbert, AZ represent their clients in such matters, making sure that the courts will respect their ability and willingness to remain involved in this respect. In practice, at least a couple of arrangements are commonly made:
• Sole responsibility – For legal decision making will sometimes be granted to one parent, particularly if the other does not contest the claim. At the same time, courts tend to be somewhat more reluctant to allow this than when deciding matters of custody.
• Joint responsibility – Preserves something of the flavor of the arrangement that existed before marriage was dissolved. Even so, parents who are no longer married are seen differently under the law, so any disputes that arise must be resolved in some fashion.
Visit the website of a lawyer who takes on cases like these, and it will become clear that there are benefits and advantages particular to each of the possible outcomes. What probably matters the most is that parents who wish to remain involved in shaping the lives of their children after divorce can find ways to do so.
