Child Custody Litigation

Divorce lawyers serving Akron

Serving Akron, Canton, Summit County, Portage and Medina, Ohio.

Child custody cases can be the most contentious and stressful cases in our entire legal system and that’s because there is nothing more important to fight for. Perhaps you are a parent that needs to protect your child from an abuser. Perhaps you’re a third party, such as a grandparent, that cannot sit back and allow your little ones to be neglected. Perhaps you’re worried that your children will be put in the middle of a nasty divorce. Perhaps a Guardian Ad Litem has been appointed on your case and you’re unsure what that means for you and your family. Perhaps you’re concerned another person is interested in limiting or eliminating your parental rights. Perhaps you’re a member of the military or need to move and wonder where that will leave your parental rights.

Helping Protect Your Children

If you are in the unfortunate position of needing to fight for the custody of the children most important to you, our Akron child custody lawyers are here to help and we can offer you the guidance you are looking for. You don’t have to worry about what to expect in a hearing or trial — we will prepare you each step of the way. You worry about how to best love your little ones and we’ll worry about how to protect your interests in court.

Child Custody Dispute Resolution & Mediation Services

Sometimes, clients come to us because they don’t want to have a fight over the custody of their children but need help in learning how to co-parent with someone they will no longer be married to, or reside with. Perhaps your spouse is an okay parent but you are a better one and you want your kids with you so you can give them the attention they need. Perhaps your child has special needs that you understand more than your spouse. Perhaps you want your children to have as much time possible with both parents without disrupting their day to day routine going between two homes. Or, perhaps you’ve already been divorced for years but now need to restructure the parenting plan you had in place because something in your lives has changed. Hoover Kacyon, LLC can assist you with all of these issues. We are competent in the court room but also know that a heated court battle is not for everyone. We will spend time getting to know the facts of your case so that we can help you explore the many different options that may work for your family. Hoover Kacyon, LLC will be there for you as your lawyers, so you can be there for your children as their parent.

International Custody Cases

One of the most complex areas of child custody involves international custody matters. This often times occurs when the parents of a child reside in different countries, or perhaps have dual citizenship or dual residences and have gone between various countries throughout the course of a child’s life. Most often the matter goes like this: One parent takes the child to stay in another country and files a court action in that country, asking that country to make child custody decisions. The other parent often times is upset about that court exercising jurisdiction, wanting instead for the courts in their country to hear the case. Still others cases involve situations where different courts of different countries are both making, or attempting to make decisions for the same family and may be competing in their determinations. Most often, parents on both sides of these cases are confused about what’s going on, the legal and practical effects that will result from one court over the other making decisions, and even where they should hire a lawyer or if they need lawyers from both countries to protect their interests.

For international custody cases, the first determination a court must make is where the “home state” or “habitual residence” of the child remains. In evaluating these considerations, a home state and habitual residence can be the same place, or different places. For any state court in Ohio, “home state” is the crucial question and focuses primarily on where the objective consideration of where the child has resided for the past six months. For federal courts or international agencies such as the Central Authority, “habitual residence” is the main question and focuses on the more subjective criteria of where the child has gone to school, daycare, intends to go to school or daycare, speaks the language, and is rooted since birth. It is only after the courts make this threshold determination that parties can feel relatively confident about where their case will be heard before they can turn to what that likely outcome of that case will be.

Another common concern of clients facing the jurisdictions of competing countries is how to protect against the kidnapping of one parent from the other or the refusal to return the child to one parent when they are otherwise in the care of the other parent. These are very real concerns of parents and can be extremely anxiety causing. The answers to many of these questions rest in what different countries are involved. For instance, if the dispute involves two different countries, both of which are participants in an international pact known as the Hague Convention, then the countries will honor custody and visitation orders made by the other country and get involved to assist in the enforcement of those orders. If, on the other hand, both countries are not participants in the Hague Convention, the non-participating country does not have to intervene in following and enforcing the orders of the other country and therefore, the ability to get the child back from that country may be extremely problematic.

The most important thing to know if you are navigating an international custody matter is that solid representation from an experienced family law lawyer becomes especially crucial. An attorney handling international custody matters should include experience with competing jurisdictions in family law matters, extensive litigation experience in family law matters in state courts, experience in representing clients before the Central Authority, and experience in representing clients before federal court dealing with disputes that are not resolved with the Central Authority. Hoover Kacyon is very proud to have a team of attorneys, several of which have this very specific and involved experience in the matters of international custody. To discuss your international custody matter in detail, please call Hoover Kacyon to schedule your initial consultation so that we can have a full understanding of your legal matter and how to best address your situation.

We at Hoover Kacyon, LLC offer the following alternatives to child custody litigation:

• Court Led Mediation
• Family and Divorce Mediation Services
• Collaborative Law Approaches
• Attorney Led Settlement Conferences
• Client Led Settlement Options
• Therapy Led Settlement 
  

Hoover Kacyon, LLC. is uniquely qualified to serve as your child custody representative

• Familiarity with both domestic relation and juvenile courts
• Extensive experiences as advocates for children (Guardian Ad Litems)
• Broad hearing and trial experience
• Certified Family and Divorce Mediator
• Regular working relationship with court personnel, social workers, guardian ad items, mental health agencies and schools
• Frequent providers of lecture and training on child custody topics
• Past service on the Board of Directors, Ohio CASA (court appointed special advocates for children) 
  

Hoover Kacyon, LLC offers many resolutions to your family law issues. These options range from litigation to mediation, with many options in between. Our family law attorneys are well versed and practiced in the courtroom but likewise provide many options for out of court resolution as well. Which option is best for your case depends on most importantly, your wishes, and the particulars of your case and circumstances.