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Child Obesity Custody Case Highlights Issue of Children's Best Interests
The case of a South Carolina mother who lost custody of her 555-pound 14-year-old makes it clear that the state of South Carolina will act to protect a child's best interests.
January 06, 2010 /Marriage - Relationships PR News/ -- Child Obesity Custody Case Highlights Issue of Children's Best Interests
Article provided by Richard J. Breibart, LLC
Visit us at www.palmettofamilylaw.com
A South Carolina case recently made headlines when a mother lost custody of her teenage son because he had become morbidly obese. The 14-year-old weighed 555 pounds when he was taken from his mother by state authorities.
The boy now lives with his aunt, while his mother faces charges of child neglect.
Protecting Children's Best Interests
The case makes it clear that the state of South Carolina will act to protect a child's best interests, even if it means taking a child from his mother. Family courts have similar concerns for children in divorce, seeking to protect their best interests, even if it comes at the expense of the wishes of one of the parents.
Child custody is often the most emotionally charged issue in a divorce. If the divorcing parents and their lawyers are unable to come to a custody agreement, the court will impose one. The court's standard is an unemotional one: the best interests of the child.
Custody is not given on the basis of a parent's gender or as a reward for one parent or a punishment to the other; rather, it is given to the parent(s) the court deems suitable for the job of taking care of the child and giving the child direction.
Negotiating Custody
Most family law attorneys agree that it is typically best for divorcing parents to work out a mutually satisfactory parenting agreement outside of court. Negotiations can reduce both the stress and expense of divorce and, most importantly, result in agreements that include both parents in the lives of their children. An increasing body of research shows children do best socially, emotionally and scholastically when both parents are present and active in their lives.
While the case of the morbidly obese child is extraordinary, it serves as a reminder that the state of South Carolina takes the health and well-being of a child into consideration when making decisions about where the child will live. When deciding custody in divorce, a family court considers the child's emotional health, age, maturity and, in some cases, expressed preference. The court also considers the circumstances of the divorce, as well as the emotional and financial stability of the two parents in its attempt to make a just decision.
Article provided by Richard J. Breibart, LLC
Visit us at www.palmettofamilylaw.com
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