Family Law Attorney Providing Guidance And Support To Parents
When you deal with a legal issue, mistakes can be costly. When your legal issue concerns your children, the stakes are even higher. Properly addressing a parenting issue requires special skills, experience and knowledge about the legal system, as well as a keen understanding of psychological and child development. At P. Mars Scott Law Offices, we help parents successfully navigate their parenting issues with compassion, sensitivity and a true concern for the best interests of their children.
Offering A Wide Range Of Services And Legal Representation
We regularly assist clients with the following parenting legal services:
- Parenting plan drafting: Work with our skilled child custody attorney to create or review a parenting plan that is right for your family.
- Guardian ad litem or parenting evaluator informational session: Get the information you need about the people who may be working with you, your children and your family during your divorce or child custody case.
- Relocation legal help: If you or your co-parent are planning to relocate out of state, you need to know your rights and your children’s rights. You may also need to go to court to update your parenting plan and parenting schedule prior to your move.
- Third-party parenting and grandparent parenting legal help: Whether you are a parent or are interested in third-party parenting, we can help you better understand your rights and take the appropriate legal actions for your situation.
- Stepparenting and co-parenting: Discuss being a successful stepparent or co-parent and learn your rights as a stepparent or co-parent from one of our knowledgeable and caring family law attorneys.
- Paternity legal help: If you need help with a paternity legal action or with establishing paternity, we can provide you with legal guidance, prepare documents and coach you before appearances in court.
If you need additional nonlegal advice and support about parenting/co-parenting issues, our child custody attorney may be able to refer you to helpful local resources.
Frequently Asked Questions About Parenting Cases
With over 40 years of service, our attorney at P. Mars Scott Law Offices has the experience you can trust to get answers to your questions about any area of the law they work in. When you have a parenting case in Montana, you want to put your trust in our child custody lawyer to get the answers you need to questions like:
What factors affect the outcome of Montana child custody cases?
The guiding principle in any parenting case in Montana will always be “the best interests of the child.” And the law in Montana defines those best interests as:
- Health: The mental, emotional and physical health of the child are vital, and Montana law is quite protective of its most vulnerable people
- Housing: Your children’s living situation must be stable, and – barring many complications – it must be a shared custody situation between both parents.
- Family relationships: Relations with grandparents, cousins and members of the community are an important building block of any child’s life.
- Child’s preference: At a certain age, a child’s wishes for where they will live will be important.
There are many other points that the court can and will consider to determine the best course of action in a parenting case. But it will always be with a mind to what is best for the child.
What happens when a parent wants to move out of state with their child?
Relocations out of state with a child post-divorce are complicated issues that the court will intervene in without proper steps taken. Essentially, moving out of state is a massive change to the legal document of the parenting plan; it will require updating and overhauling several vital parts. This cannot be done unilaterally and may only be done with the input of both parents.
There is a very real chance that the court will stop the move, or at the very least award full physical custody to the parent remaining in Montana, if you attempt to move without the help of a child custody attorney.
How can an attorney help with these difficult times?
Parenting law in Montana is not an intuitive system. It is a bundle of statutes and precedents that work together –usually – to grant parents and children rights and access. Things are not perfect. It takes time, effort, knowledge and persistence to gain an outcome that works. But time and knowledge are resources you do not have without help.
A child custody attorney, like ours at P. Mars Scott Law Offices, can give you the attention and time you need to get results. You can trust in our team to understand the law and understand how to approach each concern strategically. Our guidance is a form of clarity in a chaotic, uncertain future, but we are there to help.
Schedule A Consultation With Our Supportive Legal Team
Contact our offices today to speak to a member of our team and find out how we can help you. To schedule your initial consultation, call us at 406-303-2142 or fill out our online contact form.