NO, I am not kidding!

Now all that is left to do is to determine how to establish and submit a bill to both legislatures and then wait to see if someone decides to take the bait.

I really should be a politician…..fofl….

SYNOPSIS:

Under existing family law, courts generally award custody of minor children to one of the parents.

This bill would provide for joint parenting agreements calling for equal sharing of parental time and parental responsibility for minor children upon dissolution of a marriage or separation by natural parents.

An Amended Act to the Presumption of Joint Custody

Joint Custody: It is the policy of this state to assure that minor children have frequent and continuing contact with parents who have shown the ability to act in the best interest of their children and to encourage parents to share in the rights and responsibilities of rearing their children after the parents have separated or dissolved their marriage. Joint custody does not necessarily mean equal physical custody.  

                                 S30-3-150

(a) All natural parents are presumed to be equal under the law and shall have the right to be treated equal at the bar. It is hereby declared by the State(s) of  North/South Carolina that children have the fundamental right to the direct care and interaction of both natural and adoptive parents, and that parents have the fundamental right to equal parenting time, parental oversight, and direct care of their children.

(b) Any court deviating from the above presumption shall document those deviations in the judgment or orders establishing the deviation under one of the following permitted exceptions:

(1) One or both parents have been found guilty, under criminal standards of proof, of a violation of law which bears directly on the care and custody of the minor child or children involved.

            (2) If clear and convincing evidence shows a parent to be unfit for shared parenting due to a current condition of mental illness, substance or alcohol abuse, mental disorder, or physical incapacity. 

(3) Voluntary reduction by either parent of parental rights. 

(4) One or both parents have a proven history, revealed by clear and convincing evidence, of physical abuse or domestic violence to the other parent, child or children, which is documented by an actual conviction or criminal hearing where a jury has found the accused party guilty of such behaviors. 

(5) Physical desertion and or abandonment by a parent of the marriage or minor children of the marriage.

  

                                              S30-3-151

(a) For the purpose of this article the following words shall have the following meaning: 

(1)   SHARED PARENTING.

Both parents have equal rights and responsibilities for the major decisions concerning the minor children including, but not limited to, education, health care, religious training, extra curricular activities and financial support.

A shared parenting plan shall be part of a shared parenting agreement, order or judgment. 

(2)   JOINT CUSTODY.

Joint legal and joint physical custody. 

(3)   JOINT LEGAL CUSTODY.

Both parents have equal rights and responsibilities for major decisions concerning the child, including but not limited to, the education of the child, health care, and religious training. The court may designate one parent to have sole power to make certain decisions while both parents retain equal rights and responsibilities for other decisions. 

(4)   JOINT PHYSICAL CUSTODY.

Physical custody is shared by the parents in a way that assures the child frequent and substantial contact with each parent. Joint physical custody does not necessarily mean physical custody of equal duration of time.  

(5)   SOLE LEGAL CUSTODY.

One parent has sole rights and responsibilities to make major decisions concerning the child including, but not limited to, the education of the child, health care, and religious training. 

(6)   SOLE PHYSICAL CUSTODY.

One parent has sole physical custody and the other parent has rights of visitation except as otherwise provided by the court. 

 

                                                S30-3-152 

(a) The court shall in every case consider joint custody but may award any form of custody that is determined to be in the best interest of the child. In determining whether joint custody is in the best interest of the child, the court shall consider the same factors considered in awarding sole legal and physical custody and all of the following factors: 

(1) The agreement or lack of agreement of the parents to joint custody. 

(2) The past and present ability of the parents to cooperate with each other and make decisions jointly. 

(3) The ability of the parents to encourage the sharing and of love, affection, and contact between the child and the other parent. 

(4) Any history of or potential for child abuse, spouse abuse, or kidnapping. 

(5) The geographic proximity of the parents to each other as this relates to the practical considerations of joint physical custody. 

(b) The court may order a form of joint custody without the consent of both parents, when it is in the best of the child. 

(c) If both parents request joint custody, the presumption is that joint custody is in the best interest of the child.  Joint custody shall be granted in the final order of the court unless the court makes specific findings as to why joint custody is not granted

 

                                              S30-3-153 

(a) The shared parenting plan shall be made part of the court record in all proceedings involving the custody of minor children. The plan shall include various forms designed and distributed for shared parenting agreements by the Administrative Office of Family Court. If one or both of the parents refuse to or cannot agree on a shared parenting plan a standard default shared parenting plan shall be issued by the court on forms designed and distribute by the Administrative Office of the Family Court. The forms shall become part of the record when they have been completed and signed by each party to a shared parenting plan. Should conditions of the default parenting plan be alleged to have been violated by one or both the parents each parent shall have the right to a hearing before a jury of their peers to determine fault. Both parents shall share the cost of the jury equally.  

(b) The following are the rights of a parent where a child or children is not in the care of that parent. 

(1) The right to unimpeded telephone conversations with each child at least three times a week at a reasonable time and of reasonable durations. 

(2) The right to send mail to each child which the other parent will not open or censor. 

(3) The right to receive notice and relevant information as soon as practicable but within 24 hours of any event of hospitalization, major illness, or death of each child. 

(4) The right to receive directly from each child’s school upon written request which includes a current mailing address and upon payment of reasonable cost for duplication, copies of each child’s report card, attendance records, names of teachers, class schedules, standardized test scores, and any other records customarily made available to parents. 

(5) The right to receive, directly from each child’s physician and other health care providers, copies of each child’s medical records, provided that a written request has been made to the provider with a current mailing address and payment for reasonable cost of duplicating and mailing the records.

  

                                                            S30-3-154 

(a) In order to implement joint custody, the court shall require the parents to submit, as part of their agreement, provisions covering matters relevant to the care and custody of the child, including, but not limited to, all of the following: 

(1) The care and education of the child. 

(2) The medical and dental care of the child. 

(3) Holidays and vacations. 

(4) Child support. 

(5) Other necessary factors that affect the physical or emotional health and well being of the child. 

(6) Designating the parent possessing primary authority and responsibility regarding involvement of the minor child in academic, religious, civic, cultural, athletic, and other activities, and in medical and dental care if the parents are unable to agree on these decisions. The exercise of this primary authority is not intended to negate the responsibility of the parties to notify and communicate with each other as provided in this article.  

(b) If the parties are unable to reach an agreement as to the provisions in subsection (a), the court shall set the plan. 

(a) (1) No parent may violate the right of the other to be an involved parent or the right of a minor child or children to a full and continuing relationship with the either parent by removing, or attempting to remove, the minor child or children from the metropolitan area where they reside at the time the parents separated or, in the case of unmarried couples, when the minor child or children were born.  A court may allow a relocation only if clear and convincing evidence that one or more of the permitted exceptions in Section 30-3-150 is involved with the non-relocating parent. 

(2) No parent may remove the minor child or children from the school district in which they are currently attending school or the district where the minor child or children have attended in the last 180 days without the written consent of the other parent. Any attempt to do so shall be treated as a willful abandonment of shared parenting and sole custody shall be awarded on a permanent basis to the other parent. 

(3) A parent who constructively interferes with a custody order such that the other parent is substantially deprived of his or her parenting time more than once in a calendar year, or more than three times in three years, shall be presumed to have willfully abandoned shared parenting, and sole custody shall be awarded on a permanent basis to the other parent. 

(4) A parent is presumed to have abandoned shared parenting if a preponderance of the evidence shows that a parent has fraudulently produced false accusations of abuse, domestic violence and/or libel.  In such cases, sole custody shall be awarded to the other parent. 

(5) All existing custody orders and or judgments may be re-litigated on an expedited basis under this section, provided that the two parties live in the same metropolitan area. 

(6) All existing custody orders and or judgments with a differential in parenting time shall be presumptively invalid if entered into prior to this legislation. 

(7) A parent seeking to modify custody to a shared parenting agreement under the shared parenting presumption that does not reside in the same metropolitan area as the minor child or children shall first establish domicile in the metropolitan area where the child or children reside. 

(8) An injunction shall issue upon the filing of a petition for modification enjoining the custodial parent from relocating during the pendency of the case in these circumstances. 

 

This Act shall become effective on the first day of the third month following its passage and approval by the Governor, or otherwise becoming law.