If you’re going through a divorce, the paramount issue is likely to be child custody. How often will you see your children? How much control will you have over their upbringing? Will your ex do anything to undermine your relationship? These questions and more add anxiety to the divorce process. But when you retain David A. Hawley, P.A., you get a strong advocate who is fiercely determined to protect your parental rights and your children’s welfare. I have more than 25 years of experience in contentious child custody disputes, during and after divorce. I can help you develop a parenting plan that wins court approval and help you enforce that plan as needed in the future.
Kansas courts make custody decisions based on the best interests of the child. Parenting plans can call for:
Custody issues require an attorney with the sensitivity to handle them while advocating strongly for your parental rights. And even though Kansas law is gender-neutral, fathers may feel they get the short end of any custody dispute. Although I am not exclusively a fathers’ rights divorce attorney, I understand the urgency many fathers feel that their rights will be upheld. I fight to give all my clients the full benefit of the law.
Either parent can petition the court to modify a custody order when a material change in circumstances occurs. A court will modify a plan when a change is in the best interest of the child, as when:
In ordering a new parenting plan, the court could strip a parent of custody or visitation rights or order enforcement of the existing plan. An approved parenting plan is a court order with the force of the law behind it, so a judge can order sanctions for violations.
After a divorce or the death of a parent, grandparents sometimes find themselves cut off from their grandchildren. Under Kansas law, grandparents have certain limited rights of visitation with their grandchildren if they have an established relationship and if continued visitation is in the child’s best interest. I represent parents and grandparents in visitation disputes.
An important part of our family law practice is representation of juveniles in Kansas Child in Need of Care (CINC) cases involving:
Because the court has tremendous authority to issue orders in the best interest of the child, parents and their children need experienced and effective representation. If there is a risk the child might be harmed, the court must hear CINC cases within 72 hours. This tight scheduling often makes it difficult to find a trustworthy attorney, but you can have confidence in my services as guardian ad litem for children or legal counsel for parents in CINC cases.
David A. Hawley, P.A. helps parents throughout Wichita maintain loving relationships with their children with appropriate parenting plans that uphold their parental rights. Call me today at 316-469-6809 or contact me online to arrange a consultation. My office is in the Hayford East Building at 129 East 2nd Street, in the heart of Old Wichita.