Los Angeles — Southern California Child Custody Lawyers
Serving Southern California Including Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, San Bernardino and Riverside Counties
Who gets custody of the children? How often can I have visitation? Who determines the amount of child support?
These questions can arise in any divorce proceedings or domestic partnership dissolutions. They also arise at the end of relationships between parties that never married or registered as domestic partners. Sometimes the questions have no clear-cut solution and can be emotionally and financially draining.
At Bennett & Erdman, we strive to resolve child custody issues without litigation. We believe that in most cases, the parents are in a far better position to do what is best for the child, rather than a judge who does not have the background or the time to fully understand what is truly in your child's best interests.
We are a result-oriented Los Angeles law firm that assists all types of families throughout Southern California with child custody and visitation disputes. We feature two Certified Family Law Specialists, certified by the California Board of Legal Specialization and nearly 30 years of experience in all aspects of family law, including child custody and visitation.
For additional information about us, the benefits of retaining our services and the other areas of our practice, please visit our firm overview page.
Bennett & Erdman — Lawyers for Your Life
To discuss your child custody, visitation or child support matter with an experienced attorney who is also a Certified Family Law Specialist, please call 323-935-0041 or 310-824-0471.
Child Custody and Visitation Attorneys in the Los Angeles Area
Our Certified Family Law Specialists have extensive experience handling a wide range of child custody issues and visitation rights, including:
- Custody, visitation and support: Often the most important and contentious issues at the end of a marriage or relationship relate to how or if parents will share custody and time with their children and how those children will be financially supported. Often an independent child custody evaluation necessary. Having an experienced attorney by your side during the process can be vital during this process.
- Changes to Custody & Visitation: Even after a divorce or dissolution is completed, from time to time parents seek changes to custody or visitation orders. In some cases, it is because one parent wishes to move so far away from the other parent that the move would impact the custody or visitation arrangement. Other times, it is because the arrangement is simply not working as expected or the parties' circumstances have changed since the order was made. Parents even sometimes have to seek custody or visitation schedules where the child has been endangered in some way. All of these situations would warrant having good legal counsel on your side.
Parentage and Paternity
- Paternity Proceedings: Traditional paternity suits are often initiated for one of two reasons. First, a birth mother of a child will begin a suit in order to establish the parentage of the biological father and obtain a court order for the payment of child support. Secondly, a biological father will begin a suit in order to establish his parentage as to a child born to a woman in order to obtain visitation or custody of the child.
- Presumed or De Facto Parentage: Paternity suits may also involve the establishment of parental rights or responsibilities for a non-biological father in certain circumstances. For example, a father may be presumed to be a legal parent of a child born to his wife, whether or not he is the biological father of the child. Likewise, a father may be presumed to be a legal parent of a child simply because he accepted the child into his home and assumed the role of a parent -- which is often referred to as a "de facto" parent relationship.
- Other Parentage Proceedings: Rules applicable to traditional paternity suits have also been applied in California to other parentage proceedings where the parties involved are not opposite-sex and/or both biologically connected to a child. In fact, each of the grounds for establishing paternity of a father may be applied to establish parentage in a second mother or father of a child born to a same-sex couple.
For information about California law on child custody, visitation and support, including information about California's child support guidelines, or to discuss any other family law related matter with a skilled attorney who is also a Certified Family Law Specialist, we invite you to call us at 323-935-0041 or 310-824-0471. If you choose, you can fill out our intake form and an experienced lawyer will contact you.
