Legal Question in Family Law in Ohio
What is the best advice for my son to receive shared custody of his 2 month old son prior to a years time? We have sought legal council, and a Guardian ad Litem has just been assigned to the case. The Guardian has had only an initial consultation with my son, and has stated that he may only get short visitation rights(3-4) hours and no overnights with visitation time to progress over time. We are awaiting DNA results. My son visits his son daily(about an hour)at times in which the mother allows. My son has bathed, fed and changed baby on multiple occasions. He is going to take a parenting class as suggested by Guardian. Guardian has not observed either parent as yet. Any other suggestions to ensure that my son can get more time awarded to him at his next upcoming court date?
Sincerely,
Sad new grandparents
1 Answer from Attorneys
In Ohio, first, you need to understand that the GAL is not a court appointed lawyer for your son. If he wants representation, he is going to need to get his own attorney.
Second, you should understand that while shared custody may end up being a 50/50 split on time with the child, it does not have to be that way. Many shared parenting plans have one parent with the child most of the time.
What shared parenting really is about is whether or not the parents can work together sufficiently that one will have to consult the other on important matters facing the child, like who the pediatrician will be, what church to attend, what school he will go to, etc. If the parties can work together and can come to these decisions cooperatively, then shared parenting will be appropriate.
But if the court determines that the parties cannot communicate with each other and work these problems out, then one parent is going to get custody and the other will receive visitation. The parent with custody will be able to make all of the decisions I referred to above without consulting the other parent.
If the parties are married, then this will take place in domestic court. If the parties are not married, then this will take place in juvenile court.
Your son should get an attorney and do what that attorney says in order to put his best foot forward.
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