To the best of most people’s knowledge, losing custody of your child means losing any involvement in your child’s life. However, New York’s law says otherwise; the custody and visitation laws give you certain rights if you lose a custody battle. This article helps you understand those rights and how NY law discusses custody.
Your Rights When You Do Not Have Legal Custody
If you lost the sole legal custody of your child to the child’s other parent, you still have parental rights. That means if anything happens to the child’s parent, he or she can receive death benefits – with or without a will.
Furthermore, the noncustodial parent has certain rights, upon request, to obtain certain information about the child’s custody decision. That is, you can get information about the child’s school, health care, and, in rarer cases, religion. “Rarer” means the issue of religion does not come up as often as a child’s education and medical care.
What that means is that even if you do not have a say as to where your child attends school. You can still request their medical records or report cards, and you can attend your child’s events. For example, you can go to your child’s school holiday parade, sports game, or concert.
What if You Are Being Denied Your Rights to Your Child?
It is not uncommon to find the parent with full custodial rights refusing the noncustodial parent their custody rights. For instance, if they are not keeping the visitation schedule, you can take legal action to address the matter. First, you can file a contempt petition to notify the court of the other parent’s non-compliance with the existing custody order.
On the other hand, you can file a request to modify an existing court order – like the custody arrangement. For example, if a child refuses to visit his father because his new girlfriend made him uncomfortable.
In response, the father filed a contempt petition, which the mother countered by filing to modify the custody arrangement. The reason for this modification is that the child no longer feels comfortable in his mother’s house. The court will be constrained to grant this modification because every custody order is given in the child’s best interest.
Generally, custody orders are modifiable because the court must keep doing what is best for the child. Meanwhile, as the child gets older, their schools and interests change; therefore, court orders are modifiable.
Should You Get a Family Law Attorney in New York?
If you have lost a custody battle in New York, you can either accept the decision or appeal it. You can choose to handle the custody case yourself, but legal advice from an experienced family law attorney can be valuable. While having a lawyer is not mandated, it is better, and New York courts tend to appreciate it when you have a lawyer.
Therefore, even if the case is relatively uncomplicated, having a family law attorney can make a big difference. More so, having a lawyer is better because it makes the presentation of facts in order and much cleaner. Plus, the lawyer can handle the court filings, and they can contact the other parent’s attorney to get them to cooperate.
Conclusion
“Losing a custody battle in New York does not mean losing all your access to your child,” says Attorney Kevin M. Colwell of The Colwell Law Group, LLC. New York laws still give you certain rights to the child – like the right to obtain information about your child’s wellbeing. Meanwhile, you might have a better chance in your custody battle and enforcement of your rights with a good family law attorney.
