Children are sometimes caught in the middle of a child custody battle when their parents divorce. The situation can be troubling for not only the children but also the adults. In California, the court ultimately must make a decision regarding child custody based on the best interests of the children. The parents should then come up with a plan for how the children will be cared for during a potential emergency.
About 50 percent of marriages in America result in divorce, and many divorcing families contain children. Therefore, child custody can be a major issue during such divorces. One area that divorced parents should consider is who will be responsible for the child when disaster strikes. For example, they need to decide whether it will always be a certain parent who will pick the child up from school — no matter what the situation is — or if the person who has custody of the child that week will be responsible for doing so during an emergency.
In addition, both parents need to decide what to do if the home that the child typically goes to after school ends up being unsafe. The couple must decide where the child and the rest of the family will go and how they will reach that destination. These preparedness tips will ensure that the child of divorced parents remains safe in the event of a disaster.
Following a divorce, each parent usually has an equal right to custody of their children. However, a court in California must determine who will receive child custody on a case-by-case basis. The judge will consider the child’s welfare and interests by evaluating the child’s relationship with each parent, the parents’ health statuses and the wishes of the parents and children themselves. Both spouses have a right to pursue custody of their children during a divorce, but it is important to develop a plan for how to handle their children’s whereabouts when disaster strikes. Knowing the steps to take in making such decisions can be helping to divorcing couples.
Source: The Daily Caller, Preparedness tips for families of divorce, Jim Cobb, Nov. 12, 2013