Custody

Starting a custody case may not be the path that all parents who are living separately will take. Some people decide not to get a custody order because they don’t want to get the courts involved. They may have an informal agreement that works well for them or may think going to court will provoke the other parent or there may be other reasons that a parent doesn’t want to involve the court system. Some of the benefits of a custody order are that the order can give you the right to make decisions about your child (legal custody) and the right to to have your child live with you (physical custody). If you decide not to get a custody order, then each parent may be considered to have equal rights to make decisions for the child and to have the child in their home.

While a custody order may help in many ways, generally, a parent may not need a custody order to file for child support as long as child primarily lives with that parent.