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Child Custody in New Jersey: The Basics

Legal custody vs. physical custody

New Jersey custody has two separate pieces. Legal custody is the right to make major decisions for a child, schooling, medical care, religion, and is usually shared, called joint legal custody, even when parents disagree about a lot else. Physical custody is about where the child actually lives day to day, and can be shared, primary with one parent and parenting time with the other, or in less common cases, sole.

The best-interests standard

Custody and parenting time decisions are governed by what a court finds is in the best interests of the child, not what either parent wants. Judges weigh factors that include the parents' ability to communicate and cooperate, each parent's fitness, the child's needs and, depending on the child's age, sometimes the child's own preference, along with the history of who has handled the child's day-to-day care.

How a custody case moves

Many custody matters start inside a divorce, but a custody case can also stand on its own between parents who were never married. Most counties require mediation on custody and parenting-time issues before a judge will hear the dispute directly, which resolves a large share of cases without a trial. Where mediation does not resolve things, the court can order an investigation or evaluation before a hearing.

Parenting time and modification

The parent without primary physical custody is normally entitled to parenting time, and today's orders typically spell out a specific schedule, holidays included, rather than leaving it informal. A custody or parenting-time order can later be modified, but only on a showing of a substantial change in circumstances since the last order, not simply because one parent would prefer a different arrangement.

What we do

We represent parents in custody matters from the first filing through a final order, and in later modification or enforcement disputes when circumstances change. Because so much of a custody case turns on the specific facts of a family, we start every matter by understanding the day-to-day reality, not just the legal standard.