Factors that Affect Child Custody in Winston-Salem

The judges in Winston-Salem are bound by North Carolina law to do what is in the child’s best interests, not what one parent wants over another. It is often better if you can work with the opposing side and come up with a schedule that is tolerable (equally disliked) by both parents.

If we are forced to make a judge resolve all of the issues, the court will look at many factors, including employment, how much time was spent care taking in the past, how nurturing the parent is, available time, and the home environment. When you meet with our child custody lawyers in Winston-Salem, they can help you determine the specific factors that apply to your case.

Positive Child Custody factors Winston-Salem judges consider:

Obviously excessive alcohol or drug use will be a negative factor, but there are other factors that may be less obvious, such as time spent traveling for work, and past abuse of others. It is impossible to know what facts a specific judge may weigh more heavily on a given day.

Contested Child Custody in Winston-Salem, NC

The local rules of court in Winston-Salem require every Child Custody case to go through court-ordered mediation. After a lawsuit for Child Custody in Winston-Salem has been filed, the court will order mediation. In many cases, this goes nowhere, but this is an opportunity for the parties to meet on neutral ground with a neutral court mediator and discuss the possibility of resolving the issues without a court battle over custody.

When you work with our child custody lawyers in Winston-Salem, they’ll help you prepare for mediation and discuss strategies to help resolve the mediation. We can go through checklists of issues to consider and prepare for before the mediation. It is always good to have a plan and be able to start at one point and be able to make some concessions, but not too many.