Parents' Guide to Child Custody

Ph.D. Frank Alabiso

Description

With a near 50% divorce rate in the United States, every parent who reads this book is either going through a divorce, has been divorced, is married to or living with someone who is divorced, or will go through one or more of his/her children's divorces.Unlike books designed to enlighten parents about children's reactions to divorce, A Parents' Guide to Child Custody is written for parents themselves.The book provides parents with an overview of the context within which custody is decided by courts today, including a chapter-by-chapter explanation of the factors that areconsidered by the court in rendering a custody decision.Part I opens the book with three brief case histories in which the reader is asked to put herself/himself in the place of the court by imaging what custody decisions they would make if they were the judge. This chapter is followed by an orientation to the three major factors that all courts consider in coming to a custody decision. Each subsequent chapter addresses the specific factors that are weighed by the court in its deliberations.Part II provides a more in-depth view of such topics as the factors considered by judges in coming to a custody decision, what to expect when undergoing a child custodyevaluation, the use and pitfalls of psychological tests, the assessment of parental capacity, and strategies for countering false allegations.Part III reviews eight myths (i.e. commonly held misconceptions) about what is best for children, as well as guidelines for discussing custody with your children.Part IV provides insight into how best to deal with parental alienation, domestic violence, and obstruction of one parent's access by the other parent after the court has ruled oncustody.Part V concludes with eight sure-fire ways to lose custody as well as the custody evaluator's recommendations in each of the three hypothetical cases presented in Part I.It is the author's sincere hope that this book will help parents become better advocates for themselves and for their children.

Sujets

• Droit et juridique

Informations

• Publié par: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Date de parution: 30 septembre 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781645757252
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

A Parents’ Guide to Child Custody
Frank Alabiso, Ph.D. 
Austin Macauley Publishers
2020-09-30
A Parents’ Guide to Child Custody About the author Dedication Copyright Information © Acknowledgement Preface Part I Introduction Chapter 1 Three Case Histories Cass V Cass Rand V Rand Krantz V Krantz Chapter 2 Core Area I: Level of Conflict Chapter 3 Core Area II: Parenting Chapter 4 Core Factor III: Co-Parenting Part II Introduction Chapter 5 What Judges Want to Know and How They Want to Know It. Chapter 6 The Child Custody Evaluation Chapter 7 Psychological Assessment Chapter 8 Defending Against Allegations Part III Introduction Chapter 9 Eight Myths About Custody Chapter 10 Giving Children a Voice Part IV Introduction Chapter 11 Domestic Violence Chapter 12 Parental Alienation Chapter 13 Gate Keeping Chapter 14 Circumstances Calling for the Assignment of Sole Custody Part V Introduction Chapter 15 Eight Sure Fire Ways to Lose Custody Chapter 16 Three Case Histories: The Court’s Decisions Cass V Cass Rand V Rand Krantz V Krantz
About the author
Frank Alabiso, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist with more than forty years of experience in conducting child custody evaluations, and in working with parents, and children of divorce. Dr. Alabiso is the co-author of a textbook on emotional disorders in children. Dr. Alabiso is a guest lecturer and in-service educator for judges and for attorneys for children.
Dedication
This book is dedicated to parents, and to the judges, magistrates, attorneys, custody evaluators, and therapists who guide them through a most difficult family passage.
Copyright Information ©
Frank Alabiso, Ph.D. (2020)
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher.
Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
Austin Macauley is committed to publishing works of quality and integrity. In this spirit, we are proud to offer this book to our readers; however, the story, the experiences, and the words are the author’s alone.
Ordering Information:
Quantity sales: special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the publisher at the address below.
Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication data
Alabiso, Ph.D., Frank
A Parent’s Guide to Child Custody
ISBN 9781643787800 (Paperback)
ISBN 9781643787145 (Hardback)
ISBN 9781645757252 (ePub e-book)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2020906625
www.austinmacauley.com/us
First Published (2020)
Austin Macauley Publishers LLC
40 Wall Street, 28th Floor
New York, NY 10005
USA
[e-mail]
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Acknowledgement
The author wishes to acknowledge Amanda McMullen and Jennifer Kreuzer for their dedication and support in the production of this book.
Preface
In 1980, 1,000,000 children endured the stress of their parents’ divorce.
Today, one out of every two children, will be subjected to divorce. Of these children, 50%, will experience a second divorce before they are old enough to leave home.
With a near 50% divorce rate in the United States, every parent who reads this book is either going through a divorce, has been divorced, is married to or living with someone who has been divorced, or will go through one or more of his or her children’s divorces.
Few parents engaged in a child custody dispute are knowledgeable about how the assignment of custody is determined.
In spite of the many resources available to parents, i.e. the Internet, books, support groups, attorneys, psychologists, and counselors, parents are often not knowledgeable about best custody practices.
In over 40 years of conducting child custody evaluations, this author has interviewed fewer than a dozen parents who understood the evaluation process itself, and still fewer parents who had questions when asked what they might want to know about the custody determination process.
Many parents have told this author that they will leave the decision up to the court, or that they don’t know what questions to ask. Yet every parent stated that the securing of custody of their children was the most important thing in her or his life.
Every caring parent dreads the possibility of an adverse custody decision.
It is safe to say that many parents react psychologically to a loss of custody as they would to the loss of a child.
Over the span of a lifetime parents and children of divorce mark the custody decision as a life-changing event. Many adult children of divorce consider their parents’ divorce to have been the turning point in their childhood.
Years later many parents have said to this author that the custody dispute was more painful than the divorce itself. Indeed, a custody dispute can bring out the best and worst in us.
In researching the literature on child custody this author found virtually no articles, and in some cases, not even a reference to the anguish experienced by parents engaged in a dispute over custody.
By contrast to the large volume of literature devoted to children’s reactions to divorce or custody the struggle of parents has been overlooked.
The intent of A Parents’ Guide to Child Custody is to inform parents of best custody practices and in doing so to guide parents toward a positive custody outcome for themselves, and for their children.
Unlike books designed to enlighten parents about children’s reactions to divorce, A Parents’ Guide to Custody, is written for parents themselves.
This book provides parents with an overview of the context within which custody is decided by courts today, including a chapter-by-chapter explanation of the factors that are considered by the court in rendering a custody decision.
Part I orients parents to the three core areas that are central to all custody decisions.
Part II of the book provides a more in-depth view of such topics as the factors considered by judges in coming to a custody decision, what to expect when undergoing a child custody evaluation, the uses and pitfalls of psychological tests, the assessment of parental capacity, and the strategies for countering false allegations.
Part III reviews eight myths, or commonly held misconceptions about what is best for children, as well as guidelines for discussing custody with children.
Part IV provides insight into how best to deal with parental alienation, domestic violence, and obstruction of one parent’s access by the other parent, after the court has ruled on custody.
Part V outlines eight sure fire ways to lose custody, followed by the court’s decision in each of the three hypothetical cases presented in Chapter 2.
Chapter 16 gives the reader a window into the process whereby judges weigh the facts in order to come to a custody decision.
It is this author’s sincere hope that the reading of this book will help parents to become better advocates for themselves, and for their children.
Part I Introduction
The court’s view of custody has been anything but static.
The laws regarding child custody are shaped by an ever-changing dynamic, involving societal norms, behavioral science, research, and case law.
In 1900, America was an agricultural society with most families living on farms. The typical American family consisted of a mother, father, up to 10 children, and grandparents.
In this pre-industrial era, farms were worked by hand. Women had few legal rights, and children had even fewer.
Farms were passed down from father to son.
Women had not yet gained the right to vote. They were denied the opportunity to own bank accounts, or to purchase property.
Other than for child rearing and domestic work, most women did not have access to employment.
In 1900 the divorce rate was 8%.
What happened to these women and their children following divorce?
As divorcees, these women had no claim to the farms they lived on.
Considered to have brought shame to their families of origin, many were not welcome back into their parents’ home.
Above all, these women were not awarded custody, as children were considered to be property of the farm.
Over the next several decades, divorced women migrated to cities. Many worked in sweat shops where they were exploited financially and sexually.
In the 1930s and 1940s, the court’s view of children was heavily influenced by the psychoanalytic theories of child development coming out of Europe.
These first theories of the psychological development of children espoused the belief that children feared their fathers. As such, psychoanalytically trained child psychiatrists testified that mothers were best suited by biology and by temperament to the care of children. This view became known as the Tender Years Presumption. The writings and testimony of these child psychiatrists heavily influenced the court’s views on custody.
Fathers were told by their own attorneys that unless they could prove neglect, child abuse, or immoral character on the part of their spouses, they had no chance of being awarded custody.
Men typically saw their children for one brief, midweek visit every other week and on alternating weekends.
This one-size-fits-all custody practice continued to be the norm for the next three decades.
At the end of the Second World War the divorce rate remained at 8%.
The typical American family consisted of a married heterosexual couple with two children. Roles were sharply defined, with fathers being employed and with mothers being charged with the important task of raising the children.
However, the court’s position on children’s rights was changing.
In