Friday, March 03, 2006

Alabama shared parenting

Someone sent me the following bill that has been introduced in Alabama to reform child custody:
Section 2. (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 of Alabama that children have the fundamental right to the direct care and interaction of both natural or adoptive parents and that parents have the fundamental right to equal parenting time, parental oversight, and direct care of their children. The State of Alabama's presumption is that equal shared parenting is in the best interest of children.

(b) A court shall grant shared parenting in the final order unless the court makes specific findings that one or more of the following exceptions exists:
(1) One or both parents have been found guilty by a court of proper jurisdiction of a violation of law which bears directly on the care and custody of the minor child or children involved.
(2) 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 been found guilty of domestic violence pursuant to Sections 30-3-130 to 30-3-135, inclusive, Code of Alabama 1975.
(5) Physical desertion or abandonment, or both, by a parent of the marriage or minor children of the marriage, except if the parent's absence in the home is due to either of the following circumstances:
a. The parent is housed in a domestic violence shelter due to acts of domestic violence.
b. The parent is serving on active duty in the military.
(c) No final order as to child custody shall be issued ex parte while a parent of the child is on active military duty.
This sounds good to me.

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