Conceptos básicos de custodia y visitas – 5to Distrito Judicial

Esta información es aplicable en los siguientes condados de Nueva York: Onondaga, Oneida, Jefferson, Herkimer, Oswego y Lewis.

Tener custodia significa estar a cargo de alguien. Hay dos tipos de custodia: física y legal. La misma persona suele tener la custodia física y legal, pero no siempre.

Custodia física Es cuando un adulto es responsable de un niño y lo cuida la mayor parte del tiempo. Normalmente el niño vive con este adulto.

Custodia legal es cuando un adulto tiene la responsabilidad de tomar decisiones importantes –como decisiones médicas o religiosas– sobre la vida de un niño.

Unless a court makes another decision, parents have equal rights to physical and legal custody of the child.

In Family Court, joint custody usually refers to joint legal custody. It means that both parents must agree on the important decisions being made about their children. They share this responsibility regardless of which parent lives with the children. The court rarely grants joint physical custody. Usually one parent will have physical custody, and the other parent will have visitación. Las visitas significan que usted puede ver a su hijo durante ciertos momentos. Esta división entre visitas y custodia física a veces se denomina tiempo de crianza compartido.

Presentas una petición for custody or a petition for visitation in the county where the child has lived for the last six months. A petition is a written request. Judges often make decisions about custody and visitation at the same time. Custody and visitation decisions can be made in Family Court or Supreme Court. The cases usually begin in Family Court unless the parents are in the middle of a divorce. If the parents have a divorce case going on, then custody will usually be decided in Supreme Court along with the divorce.

Sometimes custody and visitation cases are heard by a referee. Referees are similar to judges. They make decisions about custody and visitation. Referees do not hear cases that involve orders of protection. In this guide, everything we say about judges is true for referees, unless the case involves an order of protection.

No. Many times parents can come to an agreement without going to court. They often use mediation. Mediation is when someone called a mediator helps you and the other parent come to an agreement. However, mediation is not a good idea when there has been domestic violence. If you are interested in mediation, ask a Family Legal Care staff member for the name of a center near you.

Sometimes the court will send you to mediation after you start your case. If that happens, the mediator can help you come to a decision about your situation. If you are able to come to an agreement, you can let the judge know what it is. If the judge agrees with you, the judge can make it into an order.

Anyone who plays an important role in the life of the child may ask the court for custody. You do not have to be a parent of the child. But the judge will revisar, or look at, the case differently if you are not a parent. This is talked about later in the guide.

Hay muchas razones por las que es posible que desee iniciar un caso de custodia. Aquí hay algunas razones comunes:

• If you are not living with your children and you want to
• If you believe your children are being harmed where they live now or are in danger of being harmed
• If you are not married to the other parent, and you want a court to say what your rights are

When two biological parents want custody, a judge must determine what is in the mejores intereses of the child. The judge will look at many things when figuring this out. The case will not bedecided based on who loves the child more or who has more money. The judge does not favor a mother over a father, even if the case involves a young child. The judge will look at who has been the main person taking care of the child up until now.

As part of the process, the judge may order that a report be written. A caseworker from the local Department of Social Services will visit the homes of both parents and write a report to the judge about what the homes were like and with whom the caseworker spoke.

Please note: Even though the caseworker is from the Department of Social Services, it does not mean that someone has said that you have hurt your children.

Most children are given an abogado (lawyer) by the court to represent them in the custody cases. The attorney is called a guardián de la ley o abogado del niño. The law guardian’s job is to tell the judge what the child wants. If the child is old enough to say what he or she wants, it will have a lot of importance. However, the court and the law guardian will want to be sure that it is what the child really wants, not what one parent has asked the child to say. It is very important that you do not tell a child what to say.

A veces las cosas cambian después de que el tribunal dicta una orden de custodia o visitas. Eso se llama un cambio de circunstancias. If this happens, you can file a petition to modify the old order. Modify means to change. The judge will hear the case and can make a new order.

When a judge is deciding a custody case between a parent and someone who is not a parent, different things will be considered. First, the judge will decide whether there are circunstancias extraordinarias. Examples of some extraordinary circumstances are: when a court has determined that there has been abuse or neglect; the child has been harmed by continued domestic violence; or when there is substance abuse in the home of the parent. It might also mean that the non-parent (a person who is not a parent) has been caring for the child for a very long time. It is automatically considered to be an extraordinary circumstance if a grandparent has been caring for a child for two years.

If there are extraordinary circumstances, the judge will decide what is in the best interests of the child. If there are no extraordinary circumstances, the judge will give the biological parent custody.

Si no desea la custodia, pero desea visitar a su hijo, debe presentar una petición de visita. The court will almost always allow a parent to visit with the child.

Si hay evidencia mostrando que sus visitas pondrán al niño en peligro (lastimarán al niño). La evidencia es información presentada al tribunal para probar un caso. Ejemplos de cosas que el tribunal podría considerar peligrosas son los problemas con las drogas o el alcohol, un historial previo de abuso sexual del niño o la exposición de un niño a la violencia doméstica.

A menudo, si el tribunal cree que el niño estaría en peligro, ordenará visitas supervisadas. Esto significa que alguien más está allí para observar mientras visita al niño. Esto puede ser en una agencia o por una persona que ambos padres estén de acuerdo.

Yes. Parents have a right to visit with their children at least once every two weeks if the children are in foster care. However, if a parent’s rights have been terminated, he or she does not have the right to visit the child. For more information, please see Family Legal Care’s guide, “Terminación de la patria potestad.”

Grandparents and siblings can petition for visitation with children. The judge will order visitation if special circumstances have led to the person not being able to visit with the child and if it is in the best interests of the child.

The following is an example of a special circumstance: You are a grandparent and your child died. Before your child died, you saw your grandchild often. Now you never see your grandchild.

Many times the court will order that the child has to be picked up and dropped off at a police station or some other safe place so that the parents will have no contact with each other.

Si el tribunal cree que ha habido violencia doméstica en el hogar y que el niño estaría en peligro físico o emocional al pasar tiempo a solas con la persona, el juez también puede ordenar visitas supervisadas.

No. Child support and visitation are separate matters. The courts believe that it is best for children to spend time with both parents.

In fact, a judge may punish a parent who stops visits by the other parent without permission from the court. Many times the judge will keep the visits going, regardless of whether or not the parent is paying child support.

Puedes presentar una petición de violación En la corte. Esto le permite al juez saber qué ha ido mal. Algunos ejemplos de violaciones son: faltar a visitas, llegar tarde a las visitas, actuar de manera inapropiada con el niño durante las visitas y traer al niño tarde. A veces un juez aumentará o disminuirá las visitas como resultado de la infracción. En algunos casos, el juez suspenderá todas las visitas. En otros casos, el juez podría incluso cambiar la custodia.

Sí. En el estado de Nueva York puedes designado, o nombrar, a alguien para que cuide a sus hijos si usted está enfermo y no puede hacerlo. La persona que usted designe se llama guardián de reserva. Los tutores de reserva pueden ser amigos o familiares. No es necesario estar enfermo para designar un tutor de reserva. No renuncia a la custodia cuando designa un tutor de reserva.

You can designate a standby guardian by filing a petition in either Family Court or Surrogate’s Court. There is also a special form that you can fill out that lets you temporarily designate a person to care for your children without going to court first. This form is called a Designation of Person in Parental Relationship.

Este documento no debe reemplazar una consulta con un abogado. Family Legal Care alienta a todas las personas involucradas con los sistemas de tribunales penales y de familia a consultar con un abogado.