BLOG Balancing A Career With Child Custody Responsibilities

Parents in Texas who are also the main breadwinners in the family who are going through a divorce might be worried that their demanding careers will affect their chances of getting child custody. However, courts will take a wide range of factors into consideration when determining a parenting schedule.

Requests should be grounded in the best interests of the child. This means that parents should only ask for time with the child on weekdays if they are not going to be working late. They should be able to get the child to school in the morning, and they should be available to make sure the child has completed schoolwork and has dinner in the evening. Keep in mind that a parent cannot hold the other parent to standards that they do not meet themselves.

Courts do not automatically award custody to the stay-at-home parent, and in fact, they might look favorably on a parent who goes back out into the workplace to help support the child. Judges are also more likely to be understanding than in the past that working parents may need to hire child care help. At work, although individuals should not discuss their divorces at length, they may need to rearrange their schedules to accommodate their children. Workplaces are increasingly flexible in allowing this.

An attorney may be able to help a parent prepare to demonstrate their readiness to take on the responsibilities of child custody. For example, they might show that the individual has taken the child to medical appointments or attended parent-teacher conferences. It might also be possible for parents to come to an agreement on child custody through negotiations instead of having to go to court.