– annulments and property settlements
– marriage & alimony
– parental responsibility
– spousal abuse, divorce, adoption, and
child abuse
The list just goes on from there.

When divorce happens, each party must of course, submit to a rigorous breaking down of what is most important to each side and who is going to take care of it. When children become involved this time of deciding can be exceptionally difficult. Determining custody of the children is not an easy task for the courts or the parents to undertake. Which is why an entire system of orders and rules is delegated for each situation.

In most cases, a divorcing couple is able to work out the issues concerning their separation on their own. Yet, when the problems they face become too hectic for them to resolve on their own there is the option of divorce mediation. With divorce mediation, a third party is brought in to iron out unresolved issues the couple might be facing. Matters such as splitting assets, paying taxes, and child custody are discussed by each person in the group and hopefully, this will result in these problems being resolved with the intervention of a mediator.

The basis for which each state’s child custody guidelines exists is determined by several factors pertaining to the family’s immediate situation. Which is to say that since each court case can vary, the order of operations for a parent gaining custody of a child are tailored to fit that family’s particular issues. However, given that there are so many domestic cases in our country per day, the individual states have seen to creating a certain criteria for local child custody claims.

The state of Pennsylvania for example, has a listing of legal custody guidelines covered under an order known as Chapter 1910 – Actions For Support, a collection of rules pertaining specifically to the state’s emphasis on child care and custody laws. Pennsylvania courts use several major guidelines in determining the way a child custody claim is laid out. These criteria include; a.) Which parent is more supportive toward the child about seeing the other parent. b.) A consideration of the conduct or behavior of each individual adult in the household. c.) A consideration of shared custody, and d.) The net income and earning capacities of each parent. Also, the state of Pennsylvania uses the “Income Shares” model to determine the amount of child support paid per month. For more information on this, or any other state’s guidelines for child custody, you can go online for a list of all ascertainable resources.