Nolo's Essential Guide to Child Custody and Support - 7th Edition by Emily Doskow (Paperback)

About the Book

Millions of parents separate or divorce each year--and their single biggest concern is their children. Nolo's Essential Guide to Child Custody & Support is thorough and compassionate, taking readers step-by-step through the unfamiliar landscape of child custody and support laws. It provides essential state-specific information and answers common questions about child support guidelines, enforcing custody and support orders, and working with a mediator and/or lawyer.

Book Synopsis

Your Child Custody and Support Companion

Nolo's Essential Guide to Child Custody and Support guides readers through some of the most difficult issues parents can face, such as deciding how to share custody and the financial responsibilities of raising children after a separation or divorce. If parents can't agree, they'll have to ask a judge to decide.

This book guides you through everything you need to know about child custody, shared parenting, and the legal responsibilities of supporting your children. Once you decide to move forward with a divorce, it can be overwhelming to know what steps to take next. This book includes a list of immediate actions to take right after making the decision, along with guidance for when things settle down and it's time to evaluate your long-term options.

This book will help readers figure out what kind of process to expect, whether it's uncontested, mediated, collaborative, or more adversarial, and how to make short-term plans while preparing for the future. This book also explains how the court process works and covers many other topics, including:

• how negotiation and mediation can keep legal costs down and improve future dealings with your ex


• how to decide on a parenting plan


• how judges make custody decisions, and


• when to hire a lawyer and how to work with one.

The book also explains what to do if your circumstances change and how to enforce custody and support orders if the other parent isn't complying with the orders.

Review Quotes

"This book arms readers with the tools they need, whether they are working to craft a reasonable custody and support agreement or facing a contentious court battle. An essential title." Library Journal

"Nolo is a pioneer in both consumer and business self-help books and software." Los Angeles Times

"Doskow walks parents considering divorce through the legal aspects of child custody, shared parenting, and the rules about supporting their children. She also explains what it is like to take a divorce to court, and how to deal with custody and support orders if your circumstances change once the orders are in place, or if the other parent is not complying with the orders. Her topics include the basics of child custody, the first month after deciding on divorce, avoiding a custody or support trial: alternatives to court, dealing with the court: paperwork and court hearings, custody and support in military families, and how to work with a lawyer and do your own legal research. She appends 50-state charts on such matters as residency requirements, court and court-related websites, and custody modification statures." Eithne O'Leyne Editor, ProtoView

Author Comments: Nolo's Essential Guide to Child Custody and Supportis designed to demystify and clarify the sometimes confusing world of co-parenting during and after a divorce. It will provide you with guidance on how to create a parenting plan that puts your kids first, and guide you through deciding on appropriate support amounts as well.