Attorney James H. Wilson, Jr., represents clients located in the Richmond, Virginia area, including Chesterfield County, Hanover County, Henrico County and the City of Richmond, with legal counseling, assistance and advice in family law matters relating to child custody, child support and child visitation issues. Lawyer James H. Wilson, Jr.’s, goal is to focus on your unique needs in order to work toward a fair resolution of your concerns while avoiding the unnecessary public exposure of private issues.
The most important legal aspects of a separation, divorce from bed and board, or final divorce are often child custody and visitation issues. To effectively determine how parental responsibilities will be shared, your and your former spouse or the parent of your child may wish to agree upon legal custody or decision making, including medical decisions, education decisions, and religious decisions; physical custody including the child’s primary residence, secondary residence, weekend and holiday residences, and summer vacation. These can be agreed upon in principle in a separation or property settlement agreement or decided and modified by a judge of a Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court or Circuit Court in Virginia.
The best interests of the child should be the guiding principle in all your decisions concerning the custody and visitation of your children. In Virginia, a court may consider any of the following factors, among others, in making a decision: The age and physical and mental condition of the child, giving due consideration to the child’s changing developmental needs; the age and physical and mental condition of each parent; the relationship existing between each parent and each child, giving due consideration to the positive involvement with the child’s life, the ability to accurately assess and meet the emotional, intellectual and physical needs of the child; the needs of the child, giving due consideration to other important relationships of the child, including but not limited to siblings, peers and extended family members; the role that each parent has played and will play in the future, in the upbringing and care of the child; the propensity of each parent to actively support the child’s contact and relationship with the other parent, including whether a parent has unreasonably denied the other parent access to or visitation with the child; the relative willingness and demonstrated ability of each parent to maintain a close and continuing relationship with the child, and the ability of each parent to cooperate in and resolve disputes regarding matters affecting the child; the reasonable preference of the child, if the court deems the child to be of reasonable intelligence, understanding, age and experience to express such a preference; any history of family abuse; and such other factors as the court deems necessary and proper to the determination.
Contact me online or call me at 804.740.6464 to set up a free consultation to learn more about your child custody, child visitation, and child support options.