Child custody issues most commonly involve children that are not babies, but some situations require legal documentation in regard to parents of an infant sharing custody or scheduling visitation. A child custody lawyer in Auburn, Indiana can help one of the parents in this situation, while the other parent needs their own attorney to prevent any conflicts of interest.
Examples
These situations arise for various reasons. The parents may never have intended a serious relationship but now must deal with the consequences of a pregnancy occurring. Sometimes a woman in a marriage has an affair and becomes pregnant, and the husband may decide he wants a divorce if the child is not his. The biological father may very well want to spend time with the baby while not necessarily wanting to live with the mother.
Couples may also be considering divorce when a pregnancy occurs. They might spend the next year or two trying to make the marriage work, but they may decide to separate. Setting up legal parameters for custody and visitation can be completed with a law firm such as Yoder & Kraus.
Primary and Secondary Caregivers
The court understands that a baby should spend most of their time with the primary caregiver. That’s even more essential if the mother is nursing the infant, in which case they shouldn’t be separated for more than several hours. Bottle feeding the mother’s milk is an option, but this probably won’t seem like a reasonable demand if the case goes to court.
A child custody lawyer in Auburn, Indiana will help the secondary caregiving parent receive as much visitation time as possible, but overnight visits are usually not recommended until the little one can communicate and understand through language. When the child reaches the age of two or three, this may be the time to revisit the possibility of longer visitation or even shared custody.
The best option tends to be having the parents spend time with the baby together if they can get along well enough to do so. If the mother can accept that the biological father will continue being an important part of their lives, she can make the situation much easier for everyone. Follow us on Twitter.
