| Rights of Grandparents to Visitation |
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| Many states offer an avenue for grandparents to seek visitation with their grandchildren. While most states permit a grandparent to petition for rights of visitation, some impose restrictions as to the circumstances under which the court will consider the petition. More... |
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| Tender Years Presumption in Custody Awards |
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| The tender years doctrine is a presumption by a court that a very young child should remain in the care of the child's mother and that a father needs to overcome that presumption by showing he would be the better parent. Many courts no longer use this presumption in making custody determinations. More... |
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| Expert Witnesses in Child Custody Proceedings |
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| The rules of evidence employed by the courts in legal actions set out the qualifications for expert witnesses, which may be said in a general way to consist of a level of education, training, or experience that has created in such a witness a degree of knowledge about a particular scientific or technical subject that is greater than the knowledge of such a subject possessed by people lacking such education, training, or experience. Unlike most witnesses, whose testimony in court proceedings is limited to factual matters actually known to them, expert witnesses are permitted, based on the factual evidence that has been presented in court, to express their opinions on issues related to the technical subjects within their areas of expertise. Extensive use of expert witnesses is made in both civil and criminal proceedings in the United States. More... |
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| Effect Of Adoption on Non-Parent Visitation |
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| When a child is adopted, he or she becomes a part of the new adoptive family. As a result, the child's ties to his or her old, natural or biological family are ended. If visitation rights had been granted to a nonparent, usually a grandparent, before the adoption, most courts would not permit continuation of the visitation. However, if the child is adopted by a stepparent, some courts would continue the visitation by the nonparent, if it is in the child's best interests. More... |
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| Sole Physical Custody Award |
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| A "sole physical custody award" is one in which a court issues an order that the child or children will live with one parent, while the other parent is given rights of visitation. More... |
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