Divorce New Mexico Custody

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The New Mexico divorce custody is one of highly crucial legal actions taken in all those cases when the child or children are also involved. The child custody issue is either sorted by granting the sole custody to a parent or shared custody to both the parents. Most importantly, the court of the state is mainly focused on the fact that custody responsibilities should be given to only that parent who can efficiently fulfill the requirements of the child. Further, the custody rights are either ordered as a sole custody or a joint custody to the concerned divorcing parties. Ultimately, the final decision about the custody is taken in accordance of the best interest of the child.

The New Mexico legislature developed a joint custody statute in 1986. This comprised of a pragmatic and comprehensive definition of joint custody. By means of this statute, it was clarified that joint custody does not imply:

  • Equal financial responsibility of the parents
  • Equal time should be spent by the child with each parent
Joint custody indicates that neither parent is permitted to take an action or decision that would cause a major alteration in the life of the child in the absence of permission of the court or the other parent.

Resolving "Physical" Custody in New Mexico

Physical custody means how the parents intend to divide the periods of time with their child. Initially, the court permits the parents to discuss this topic with one another and arrive at a schedule. However, if the parents fail to do so, the court refers their case for mediation. Sometimes, mediation is not available. In other instances, even after the assistance of professional mediators, the parents cannot solve this problem.

The final measure is that the court determines how to achieve the best interests of the child. The court contemplates several factors that are mentioned below:

  • The physical and mental health of all the persons who are related to the child custody case
  • How has the child adjusted in community, at school and home?
  • Those person who interact with the child considerably (like caretakers and teachers) can provide some inputs to the court
  • The age of the child
  • What type of relationship does the child have with each parent?
  • The parenting capacities of both parents
  • Professionals have the freedom to provide some recommendations regarding the case
The courts as well as the legislature genuinely believe that the best interests of the child can be fulfilled when two involved parents collaborate to nurture the child. So divorced parents are being inspired to work together to look after their child.

Role of the Court Clinic during New Mexico Divorce Custody

A social service agency that has been constructed in a divorce court is termed as a Court Clinic. The objective of this clinic is to offer advice regarding child custody. For this, the clinic evaluates the parents in the absence of their attorneys. On the basis of this evaluation, the clinic offers a recommendation to the court. The only county in this state to have this sort of clinic is Albuquerque. Other counties may have other facilities that perform identical work.

There are child custody lawyers in Albuquerque that assist their clients to furnish a credible and precise testimony in the court clinics. These testimonies may also be made in front of the judge who makes the ruling.

Pro Se Mode of Child Custody Dealing

Pro Se means the parents seeking child custody act as if they are their own lawyers. This is a legal method. The intention is to minimize the legal fees. The lawyer performs the following:

  • Preparing the paperwork
  • Filing the paperwork on behalf of the clients
  • Offering advice to the clients regarding how to represent themselves in court
When a parent opts for a pro se method, he or she is supposed to disburse a flat fee to the lawyer. This method is suitable for some parents. As the parents have definite knowledge of their situation, they can represent themselves in court in a better fashion than their lawyers would have.

It is observed that joint child custody is more favorable for the New Mexico state. The overall legal formalities associated with New Mexico divorce custody mainly focus on preparation of an absolute and effective parenting plan. The parenting plan must comprise of all the basic details such as primary resident of the child, visitation period between the non custodial parent and the child and so on.

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