The expert legal team of attorneys at Nachshin & Langlois is thoroughly familiar with all child custody laws in California and has experience in handling all child custody matters including those that deal with establishing paternity of a minor child or minor children.

There are different child custody arrangements and often both parents will agree to a child custody arrangement which permits them to avoid appearing at a court hearing to have the Court determine custodial arrangements. Agreed upon custody arrangements may be placed in formal orders filed with the Court binding the parents unless and until there is a modification of such a custody arrangement.

Parents can seek sole physical custody to one parent with visitation to the other or joint custody with varying degrees of time to each parent depending on their circumstances. If parents cannot agree to a custody arrangement, the court will decide the custody arrangement for the child or children.

Parents must also decide whether decision making regarding material issues impacting the child(ren)’s health, education and welfare shall be joint or sole to one parent. This is called "legal custody" and the preference by the Court is for joint decision making.

Nachshin & Langlois has handled many custody matters including those that concern paternity. A Paternity action is normally filed by an unmarried mother or by an unmarried father who have a minor child(ren) together and who want unequivocally to establish parentage. Often, the first action taken is that of a DNA or blood test to determine parents of the child(ren). Once parentage is established, the parties can stipulate to the child’s paternity and then begin to make appropriate arrangements for child support and child custody arrangements. If the non-paternity parent is found not to be the biological father, he is not obligated to provide support for the child(ren) in question and may not have custodial rights, either.

Custody and visitation, child support and other orders (such as ordering a party to pay the mother and child’s hospital bills, etc.) can be stipulated to or issued by the Court after all necessary steps have been taken to establish paternity.

Custody arrangements, if not agreed upon, for all minor children, will be left to the wide discretion of the Court based upon a "best interest" standard. The Court will determine who will live with whom and how much support must be paid. Nachshin & Langlois skillful team of partners and associates has had extensive experience in paternity and child custody matters and has a proven track record of successes for its clients.