Divorce or separation between two partners is mostly an unfortunate and sad event. If mutually done, both the parties can simply sign a divorce paper, deal with the negotiations and other formalities, and get down with it easily and quickly. But many times, this is not the case. In India, most of the divorce cases are not mutual and are complex issues that often lead both the parties to court. One of the biggest questions faced while getting a divorce is the custody of the children: who will get the custody of the children?
Child Custody Post DivorceCustody of children means which parent gets to keep the children with themselves, where the other parent might or might not get permission to see and meet the children. Divorce is as tough a time, if not more, for the children as it is for the parents. In many cases, the children are too young and vulnerable to decide with which parent they want to live, and therefore the court has to intervene and decide after considering a few terms and conditions.
Points to Consider To Get Child Custody Post Divorce
In order to make sure that you get the custody of your children post-divorce, one must keep the following things in mind.
1. Provision of Financial Security
A very important criterion in the eyes of the court while judging if a parent is fit to take custody of the children is whether the parent is financially stable or not. The court looks into the income of the parents, assets owned, an overall expenditure that the parent has to bear because of the children, and whether the parent is financially equipped enough to take up the responsibility of the children. This criterion is important to see if the parent can take care of the children properly and give them a healthy lifestyle.
Child Custody Post DivorceTherefore, in order to secure the custody of your children, try to get a stable job, if you do not have one, and show a sufficient amount of regular income which preferably exceeds your regular expenditure. Try to showcase sufficient economic assets, liquid and convertible, to prove that you are financially capable of giving your children a healthy and holistic environment, and will be able to fulfil their basic needs.
2. No Addictions
Addiction to substances like alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, etc. can be a huge hurdle in getting the custody of your children. In most of the cases, the court does not give the custody of the children to a parent who has any kind of addictions, as in the eyes of the court a parent who has any addictions will prove to be a bad example for the children, and might pose as a threat to the children in an intoxicated state.
Stay away from any kind of addictions to get the custody of your children. You will have to prove in court that you are clean of any kind of substance abuse, be it alcohol, drugs or any other substance, and that you will prove to be a good example to your children as far as habits and lifestyle is concerned.
3. No Criminal Records
While deciding which parent will get the custody of the children, the court very carefully checks if any of the parents have had any kind of criminal record. The court asks for police verification of the parents and closely checks if the parent has ever had any kind of criminal record, and if so, then for what kind of crime.
To secure the custody of your children, try to be free of any kind of criminal records. This will help you create a clean image in front of the court and will make a preferable choice to grant the custody of the children as your profile will be assuring of you being able to set a good moral example and create a healthy environment for their development.
4. Stable Mental, Emotional and Physical Health
A healthy and secure environment for the development of a child is very important, which can only be provided by a healthy parent. A stable mental and physical health becomes an important criterion to check whether the parent will be able to provide the children with a healthy environment for their overall development. This criterion is also important to check that in order to take care of the sick parent; the children do not become the guardians or play the role of a caretaker, where the roles should be reversed.
This also provides as some kind of assurance to the court that the parent will have a healthy and substantial life, and there will be no sudden deaths due to any ongoing illness, which will be detrimental to a child’s psyche. This criterion also becomes important to take into account any symptom of any ongoing disease that can be harmful to the children.
Child Custody Post DivorceThe key solution to this problem is to take good care of your health, mental and physical. Only a healthy parent is capable of providing a healthy environment to its children. So take care of your mental, emotional and physical health. Practice habits of self-care regularly, like meditation, reading books, writing, workouts, etc. Create a presence of a healthy and stable parent that is capable of providing the same kind of healthy and stable environment to its children.
Once you pass through all these criteria, you will prove to be a sincere and diligent parent who is capable of providing a healthy, secure and stable environment to its children. There is no hundred percent guarantee of whether you will get the custody of your children or not, but these criteria are mainly the most important ones and passing through them will surely increase your chances of getting the custody of your children. It is understandable if a person is in a troubled marriage and is not in the right mental state to keep these points in mind, but in that case to get the custody of your children becomes even more important so that they do not get into the wrong hands. By keeping these points in mind and building upon them, you will be able create the profile of a good parent who is capable of taking good care of its children.
Also Read: How To File For Divorce Finance Settlements
