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If you and your children's other parent cannot
live together any longer, you have to decide where the children
will live. This is called custody. One or the other parent can
have sole custody of the children, or the two parents can have
shared or joint custody. In some cases, someone other than a
parent may have custody.
If you are interested in filing for custody
of your or someone else's children, you will have a custody
hearing, the type of proceedings in which the court determines
which parent, other adult or agency shall have physical control
over a child. If the parent who does not have custody wants
to spend time with the children, then there must be an arrangement
for visitation. This agreement can be formal, with specific
days and times listed. It can also be informal, and the parents
can discuss visits as they come up.
If you are filing for a divorce, it is customary
for custody, visitation, and support issues to be taken care
of in the Circuit Court along with the divorce. If there is
no divorce at this time and it is unlikely that you and the
other person can come to an agreement on the issues of custody
and visitation, you should ask the Juvenile and Domestic Relations
District Court to help you.
If you would like to file for custody, you
must call the Domestic Relations
Unit of the Juvenile Court for an appointment. The phone
number is 703-246-3040. Because there is paper work which must
be completed prior to the appointment, we ask that you be prepared
to arrive 30 minutes before your scheduled appointment time.
If you are filing for custody for the purposes
of school attendance or for custody of a child in the custody
of the Department of
Family Services (DFS), you must make an appointment with
the Juvenile Intake Unit
of the Juvenile Court. Their phone number is 703-246-2495.
- The home and work addresses of the other parent and that
person's social security number.
- The present home address for each child and a list of
the other places each child has lived during the last five
years.
- The names and addresses of the person that each child
has lived with during the last five years.
- If this is not the first time you've been involved in
a custody case with these children, you must also bring
a copy of the order from the last time you were here. You
will need information on the previous case, such as what
state, when and in what court.
According to Section 16.1-228
of the Code of Virginia, "Legal custody" means (i)
a legal status created by court order which vests in a custodian
the right to have physical custody of the child, to determine
and redetermine where and with whom he shall live, the right
and duty to protect, train and discipline him and to provide
him with food, shelter, education and ordinary medical care,
all subject to any residual parental rights and responsibilities
or (ii) the legal status created by court order of joint custody
as defined in Section 20-107.2.
According to Section 20-124.1
of the code of Virginia, "Joint custody" means (i)
joint legal custody where both parents retain joint responsibility
for the care and control of the child and joint authority to
make decisions concerning the child even though the child's
primary residence may be with only one parent, (ii) joint physical
custody where both parents share physical and custodial care
of the child, or (iii) any combination of joint legal and joint
physical custody which the court deems to be in the best interest
of the child.
According to Section 20-124.1
of the Code of Virginia, "Sole custody" means that
one person retains responsibility for the care and control of
a child and has primary authority to make decisions concerning
the child.
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