Santa Barbara Child Custody Lawyer

With So Much at Stake, Choose Our Experienced California Custody Attorneys

If someone is fighting you over custody of your children, especially during a divorce, there might be more at stake than you realize.

At Morales Law, P.C., our Santa Barbara child custody attorney can help you fight to keep your role as a parent intact. Attorney Marcus W. Morales is a Certified Family Law Specialist by the State Bar Of CA, Board Of Legal Specialization.

Contact our family law firm today at (805) 422-7966 to learn more about how our Santa Barbara child custody lawyers can help you with your children. Your initial consultation is free!

Should I Hire A Lawyer For Child Custody?

You should hire a lawyer for child custody for specific circumstances that need legal counsel. A Santa Barbara child custody lawyer can also become an essential advocate, especially if your circumstances are complicated or include abuse in any matter.

Having a lawyer can affect the outcome of your custody battle.You need to have a family law attorney who knows how the family court serving Santa Barbara County works and can carefully navigate obstacles with you.

Different Types of Custody in Santa Barbara

In California, child custody is split into two categories: legal and physical custody. The consequences of losing – or maintaining – these types of custody, either wholly or partially, can radically impact the future of your relationship with your child.

Legal Custody

Legal custody over children allows the parent who has it to make important decisions for their children.

  • Such decisions can involve schooling, healthcare, or other welfare choices.
  • Parents with joint legal custody aren’t expected to agree on every decision involving a child’s life, but it’s advised they work together as best as possible to avoid the courtroom over the issue.

Physical Custody

Physical custody over children determines with whom a they decide to live. 

  • Some might assume joint physical custody implies an even split of time spent between parents, but this is not always the case.
  • Splitting a child’s time evenly between parents can be impractical due to work schedules, school hours, and other facets of everyday life.

Visitation in California

When a parent has their children for less than half of the time, it’s legally deemed visitation.

  • In Santa Barbara CA, visitation is ordered with a child’s best interest in mind – not yours or anyone else’s.
  • Sometimes this means parents can work out reasonable, open-ended, and flexible visitation plans, or adhere to a set visitation schedule.
  • Supervised visits with the other parent, another adult, or a representative of a third-party agency may be required.

In custody cases where it’s judged that a parent is likely to have a physically or emotionally harmful impact upon their children, visitation can be revoked.

How is child custody determined?

There are a wide range of factors that the courts will consider when determining the outcome in any child custody case.

When judging custody, a judge can consider the following:

  • Children’s age
  • Children’s health
  • Children’s relationship with each parent
  • Parents’ ability to care for the children
  • History of domestic violence or substance abuse
  • Children’s ties to their home, school, and community
  • The health, safety, and welfare of the children

The court in Santa Barbara will take factors into account such as each parents’ ability to care for the children, the parents' living situations, and any criminal history, as well as the health, safety, and welfare of the children.

After all factors have been considered, the court will decide physical custody, which determines who the children should live with, and legal custody, which determines who can legally make decisions for the children.

To speak to our experienced Santa Barbara child custody attorney, give us a call at (805) 422-7966 or contact us online today.

Our Attorneys

Responsive & Personalized

Working with attorney Marcus Morales and the team at Morales Law means getting a responsive and personalized experience. We know what you’re up against, and we understand you’re working with us because you’ve reached a difficult point in your life. We want to help. Contact us today.

  • “Morales Law renewed my faith in the judicial system”
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What Matters Most in a Child Custody Case

When it comes to giving someone custody of children, judges are required to decide in the child’s best interest.

What this means is that a Santa Barbara judge can put your entire daily life under a microscope, so to speak, in order to determine how well your children will thrive in your care. This process can be frustrating or even anger-inducing, but that’s why it’s important to remain calm and let your family law attorney guide you through the process.

Do your best to appreciate that everything is happening for the benefit of your children, even if it doesn’t always feel like it.

Your relationship with your children matters to us. Call the lawyers serving Santa Barbara County at Morales Law at (805) 422-7966 or contact us online for help in your case!

Get in Touch

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