Content Detail. Joint Custody . has a team of experienced family lawyers with five convenient office locations, representing clients across Northern Virginia. This article describes your legal rights about child custody and child visitation. Instead, many cases involving grandparent’s rights will cite three related laws in the Virginia Code’s child custody and visitation section: Virginia Code § 20-124.1, which defines the legal term “person with a legitimate interest.” You can also access forms by entering the form number or Custody, Visitation & Child Support Forms - VA ATJ Custody and visitation are never considered to be final. Child Custody and Child Visitation. Visitation rights in a split custody case will usually involve sibling as well as parental visitation. The Virginia Judicial System has a number of forms for each court available on the court's form page. § 20-124.3. In Virginia, the law does not favor either the mother or father. In one Virginia case, the court denied a grandfather’s request for custody of his grandchild. For answers to your specific questions regarding COVID-19 and your existing custody and visitation order, be sure to speak with an experienced family law attorney in your area. By: Central Virginia Legal Aid Society, Inc. Read this in: Spanish / Español Lynchburg Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court: Custody, Visitation and Support. Relocation and the Law Despite concerns over the welfare of involved children, in many circumstances, long-distance moves are unavoidable. The child’s mother had died and the grandfather intervened to obtain full custody of the child. Virginia has laws that explicitly permit the consideration of domestic violence in conjunction with child custody. The content of this page was provided by the Lynchburg Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court and has been posted on Virginia's Judicial System Web site as a courtesy to the Lynchburg Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. Virginia child custody laws allow for joint custody and grandparent visitation rights, while the court process gives significant weight to the child's own wishes before determining custody. For example, if a grandparent’s child loses parental rights to because of abuse or neglect, the grandparent can’t seek visitation with the grandchild. Child custody laws are very similar from state to state, mainly due to adoption of the Uniform Child Custody Act, which helps enforcement efforts across state lines. In determining best interests of a child for purposes of determining custody or visitation arrangements, including any pendente lite orders pursuant to § 20-103, the court shall consider the following: 1. Custody and visitation are the legal terms in court ordered determinations of which parent the child lives with and the conditions for the child to visit the other parent. Virginia is one of the many states that has passed laws affirming that custody should be awarded “in the best interests of the child” and courts are no longer allowed to give preference to either women or men. Under joint custody, parents share parenting responsibilities. Livesay & Myers, P.C. What are the current custody and visitation arrangements and do they overly expose the parents and/or child to the virus through constant travel and exchanges; and Are there any specific examples of a parent putting the child’s health at risk through unnecessary exposure or exposure which cannot be avoided due to the parent’s job or routine. Best interests of the child; visitation. An Overview of Virginia Child Custody Laws. 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