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The rights and duties that you hold as a parent concerning your child are at the core of a family law case. This subject is known as conservatorship. As a parent, the conservatorship rights and duties are spelled out within your court orders. Among the most important decision-making rights, you have related to educational outcomes for your children. While the focus of your divorce may be on spending as much time as possible with your children, educational decisions should not be far behind.
Coming to grips with the uncertainties of a child custody case can be unsettling for many parents. The reality of a child custody case is that there are several issues that you have relatively little control over. Certainly, it is unrealistic to expect that you and your co-parent will agree on every critical topic in the case. Rather, it is likely that the two of you will disagree on several subjects. This means that your willingness to negotiate with one another becomes critically important. Many families find that by negotiating during the family law case it is easier to develop a stronger co-parenting relationship.
In today’s blog post from the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, we are going to talk about educational decisions within a child custody case. As your children grow older it is important to be able to anticipate the needs of your children. This is where having a plan and being detail-oriented can make a tremendous difference for your family. The attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan help our clients develop a plan and act intentionally during their cases. What does intentionality look like when it comes to educational decision-making? Here are some thoughts on that subject.
Acting with intentionality during a child custody case
It is an unfortunate position to find yourself confronted with a child custody case by surprise. Either you were served with a child custody case that you were not anticipating, or you found yourself in an untenable situation that required you to immediately file a case. In either situation, you may be trying to figure out a game plan for the family. Being caught off guard or by surprise means that you likely have more questions than answers. While there is nothing wrong with having questions about a complex subject it is better to have answers and perspective.
Unfortunately, time is not necessarily on your side. Once a family law case is filed you begin to live and plan your case on the schedule of the court. Additionally, your co-parent is participating in the case. All the while you need to balance the responsibilities of your life along with the issues of your case. If you are not careful it is possible for your case and your personal life to get the better of you. One of the ways you can approach your case is with an eye for detail and a mindset geared towards intentionality.
Being intentional means anticipating the problems and opportunities within a case. How can you develop the experience you need to anticipate these sorts of events? One way is to learn as much as you can about the family law case process. Another is to work with an experienced team of attorneys to serve clients in child custody cases throughout Texas. The attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan are skilled at presenting arguments and teaching clients about the law. We understand the major role that education plays in the lives of children. Our attorneys are uniquely suited to serve clients in your position.
Assisting your child through a difficult custody case
It is not difficult to anticipate that this child custody case is not going to be easy. As a parent, your relationship with your child is up in the air during this time. The outcome of the case will determine in large part what role you will play in the life of your child moving forward. With so much uncertainty it would be normal for you to feel uneasy. This is where developing a plan geared towards the success of your family matters a great deal. You’re not only allowing yourself to accomplish your goals but to reduce the stress in your life.
Having a plan and being intentional also helps you to help your children through a difficult family law case. Remember that for as nervous as you are your children have fewer experiences than you do to combat the stress of a case. For your children, it feels as if the family law case will never come to an end. As adults, we understand that this is not true. However, children are more prone to all-or-nothing promotions that can greatly impact their mental and emotional well-being.
You and your co-parent can help your child through a difficult time. For example, you can help your child by assuring him that you love him. It may sound silly but many children in a family law case believe that the case is ongoing because it’s something they did. Reinforcing your love and helping your child to understand why the case was necessary is a good starting point. Consider the developmental stage of your child in gear your words of wisdom toward that age group.
Why educational outcomes are sometimes not considered significant enough
Within a family law case, several subjects need to be considered. The entirety of your child’s life is at issue in a family law case. As a result, you should expect that no issue great or small is overlooked. With that said, educational outcomes may sometimes be not the primary focus of a case. Although most of us as parents understand the importance of education in our children’s lives, we may place different priorities ahead of it.
Since the time of the pandemic, more children are taking different routes towards achieving an education. For instance, children are more likely to alright attend private, charter, or home school environments now than ever before. Homeschooling is more popular now than it was even five years ago. As a result, you may find that the same issues do not apply in your case as they would in another family’s case. You need to focus your attention on the subjects that are likely to impact your family in the future. Everyone reading this blog post has a different priorities list when it comes to the life of their children.
With so many issues at play in your case, it is best to think about the family law case as an opportunity to address the needs of your family both now and in the future. Do not assume that you will automatically have an opportunity to come back and change these court orders in the future. Rather, take advantage of every opportunity you can to address these issues now so that they do not adversely affect your family in the future.
What do conservatorship rights mean to your family?
Being able to make positive decisions on behalf of your children is at the core of the parent-child relationship. We know that making good decisions for our children is something we try to do every single day. These decisions are made without even thinking about them. However, in a family law case, your rights as a parent are spelled out within the orders of your case. As a result, there are critical aspects of the case that you must keep in mind throughout. Being able to continue to make good decisions for your child even in uncertain times is still an important part of parenting. This is true even during a family law case.
While the focus of a family law case may be on spending time with your child it should not be the only topic you consider. We all hear horror stories from families who have gone through child custody cases that have resulted in undesirable outcomes. We tend to internalize these concerns and allow them to impact our attitudes. While there is nothing wrong with developing opinions it is better to do so after you have some experience under your belt. What matters most to your family may not be important to your friend or neighbor who went through a child custody case.
Determine where educational decisions rank on your priorities list
Educational outcomes and rights are important. The question you need to ask yourself is how important they are to you and your child. Consider the specific needs of your child and how you can play a positive role in benefiting him or her. The more time you take to consider the range of outcomes for your family the better off your children will be both now and in the future. Talked to an attorney with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan about how we can help you accomplish your goals.
What are the best interests of your child?
This question is not a theoretical or philosophical one. Rather, being able to determine the best interests of your child is the goal of a family court. Specifically, all decisions made by a court in the context of your child custody case must be made with the best interest of your child in mind. The best interests of the child’s standard guide courts throughout the country when it comes to decision-making.
It can be difficult to always be aware of what your child’s best interests are. So often as parents, we confuse our own best interests with those of our children. Much of the time, our best interests are completely aligned with the best interests of our children. However, this is not always the case. When something is desirable for us but not necessarily desirable for our children that means we need to be able to have the maturity to understand the difference. It can take time and a great deal of consideration to consider these differences.
Overall, it is true for most families that the best interests of your child are reflected in being able to help him or her succeed in the classroom and socially. Helping children balance all of these priorities is what being a parent is all about. On top of that, balancing your thoughts on the subject against your co-parent’s is another challenge of a family law case. When you can look at a case objectively and discuss it with your co-parent you truly can consider what is best for your child. Families who struggle in child custody cases tend to struggle with communication between parents.
Communicating as a co-parent
Effective parenting during and after a family law case depends upon effective co-parenting. Co-parenting refers to the ability to communicate and share ideas with your child’s other parent. Preferably, the two of you can consider the other person’s opinions and help to make decisions that are in the best interest of your children. This is sometimes more easily said than done. There are times when it is especially difficult for you to consider your co-parent’s opinion. This may be especially true in important circumstances.
One of the basic points that the two of you can seek to achieve together is to provide your child with stability. Stability in the life of a child who was going through a family law case may not be easy to find. Your child is going through a series of changes within the case. Having a new place to live, changing parenting roles, and different challenges with balancing these changes are all true for many families like yours. This is on top of the changes in their personal life.
This is all to say that you cannot approach a child custody case with an attitude that does not account for the opinions of your co-parent. It may feel good to try and block out your co-parent and their opinions. However, this does not make for an effective co-parenting relationship. Rather, the best you can do in this circumstance is to put your thoughts aside from time to time and look to your co-parent. Assuming that your co-parent has an open mind it is possible to work together successfully to raise your child.
Educational decision-making within a family law case
Balancing the ever-evolving needs of your child from an educational standpoint is critical. What your child needs for success now may change. What was necessary for your child when he was 6 may no longer be the case when he is 16. That is to be expected. Anticipating certain changes and accounting for them within the parenting plan you create is critical. Many families think only about the present circumstances of their child during a child custody case. This is a mistake. The more forward-thinking you are the better outcomes tend to be established. Your co-parent can be a wealth of good information about subjects like this.
One of the most basic and critical factors to consider when it comes to educational decisions and your child relates to where your child goes to school. Once you can answer this question a lot of the other rights and duties in your child’s life will fall into place. Much of the time, your child will attend the school that is zoned to the neighborhood for the primary conservator. Whichever parent becomes the primary conservator of your child tends to have more day-to-day decision-making responsibility regarding education.
Talk to your attorney about the different outcomes that may be possible in your case regarding primary conservatorship. More than anything, you may want to be named as the primary conservator. However, considering your history as a parent and the well-being of your child that may not be possible. However, begin to discuss these subjects with your attorney early in the case to help guide your goal-setting for the remainder of your family law experience.
Final Thoughts on Educational decision-making in a Child Custody Case
Determining the best interests of your child can help you to focus on the different aspects of your family law case. Being able to separate your best interests from your child’s is a critical component of this analysis. Remember that what works best for you may not work best for your child. Along the way, it is also critical that you consider the changing needs of your child based on their age and developmental stage.
Thank you for joining us today on the blog for the Law Office of Bryan Fagan. Our experienced family law attorneys post unique and informative content here seven days a week. If you have any questions about the material you have read here please do not hesitate to reach out to our office today.
Questions about the material contained in today’s blog post? Contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan
The attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan offer free of charge consultations six days a week in person, over the phone, and via video. These consultations are a great way for you to learn more about the world of Texas family law. Before signing a document or negotiating on a subject you do not know well, contact our office. We look forward to the opportunity of serving you during an important part of your life. The Law Office of Bryan Fagan is on your side.
