Rhode Island Child Custody and Child Support Orders

Pawtucket Child Custody Attorneys

When making decisions about child custody, these are the issues you need to consider:

  • Legal Custody: Who will make legal decisions about the child's upbringing? With one parent or both parents?
  • Physical Custody (or physical placement): Where will the child live? With one parent exclusively (sole custody), one parent more than the other (with the other parent having visitation), or both parents equally (shared custody)?
  • Split Custody: If there is more than one child, will the same parenting arrangement be made for both children or will some children live with one parent and some live with the other?

In most cases, each parent has a legal right to participate in the "major decisions" of a child's life, such as health care, religious upbringing and education. The courts almost always award both parents joint legal custody.

But the court seldom awards parents completely equal shared physical placement where each parent has the child 50% of the time. It's also less common for the court to give one parent sole custody, although that could happen for a number of reasons (if the other parent lives far away, if there has been domestic violence or child abuse, or if the parents agree that should be the case). Far more common is for one parent to have the child during the school week and the other parent to have the child on weekends, holidays and summer breaks.

At The Family and Consumer Law Center of Claude Lefebvre, Christopher Lefebvre, P.C., we've helped all kinds of families reach child custody agreements and parenting plans that work for them. Our goal is to help you consider the details of parenting so you can come up with a clear, concise plan that minimizes the chances for problem in the future. Call 401-728-6060 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation.

Our Rhode Island child custody lawyers have handled 2,400 divorce cases so we've seen every kind of family law issue. We know what can go wrong and how to make things right. We can help you think through the details of your parenting plan, protecting your parental rights and your time with your child.

Child Support

Child support in Rhode Island and Massachusetts is governed by state guidelines. Judges rarely deviate from those guidelines, which calculate support based on the income of both parents, the number of children, and the amount of time each parent spends with the child. While you can fight about this in court, it can be expensive and may not change the outcome of the case. We can help advise you in these situations if contesting the guidelines will be successful. mi

In addition to basic child support, parents will also need to decide who will pay for heath insurance, dental and vision insurance, daycare costs, school activity fees and other expenses.

Should Your Child Support be Increased or Decreased?

An increase or decrease in income, a change in childcare costs, a child's changing health care or educational needs – these are all reasons why you might want to bring your existing child support order back to court to ask for a modification. Our Rhode Island child custody lawyers can help you prove the need for a change in child support.

At The Family and Consumer Law Center, we can help you through the ups and downs of child custody law. Contact our Pawtucket or Providence law office at 401-728-6060 (toll-free at 800-851-1829).

Our office is open Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. evening, and Saturdays appoinments upon request.
We are located in historic downtown Pawtucket, just off Route 95.

We accept all major credit cards.

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The bankuptcy, family Law and consumer protection lawyers at The Family and Consumer Law Center of Claude Lefebvre and Christopher Lefebvre, P.C., have offices in Pawtucket and Cranston, Rhode Island. The firm represents clients throughout Rhode Island and southern Massachusetts' communities including Providence, Warwick, Attleboro, Seekonk; and communities in Bristol County and Norfolk County, MA.
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