Pennsylvania residents who find themselves facing a divorce will have a tremendous amount of stress and worry to face down. After all, the process of going through a divorce will be one of the most life-changing events in their life.

Managing a divorce with dignity is important, but it’s made difficult by various circumstances – and one of the biggest challenges will be understanding and accepting child custody orders.

There are a few different things to understand about custody for children during a Pennsylvania divorce. These include the following.

• Pennsylvania law doesn’t automatically favor the mother or the father during a divorce. Instead, courts try to work towards shared custody agreements.
• These shared custody orders focus on treating each parent equally, providing much more benefits including beneficial influences on the children, more amicable overall divorce proceedings, and more.
• In most divorce cases, custody is something that will be mediated without the involvement of the court. The use of attorneys and mediators can help with this immensely.
• If an amicable agreement over custody can’t be reached, a judge will have to determine custody instead. This will involve a number of different things including overall fitness as a parent, the preferences of children in some instances, relationships to the children, and what option will provide the most stability to a child.

In short, courts take a look at the best interests of children in virtually every scenario. Your own situation and emotions during the divorce shouldn’t factor into the process, but they too often do. As a result, it’s usually best for you to allow a child custody attorney to help you navigate this process. Doing so provides numerous benefits including:

• Makes it easier to avoid emotional conflicts and confrontations
• Helps parents reach the best agreement for children, not for themselves
• Will help explain to you what to expect and what your potential outcomes will be

An attorney is your greatest ally during a divorce, and it’s important to find one who will help you get the best possible results during your divorce. It’s also vital that you try to look beyond your emotions and instead consider the mental, physical, and emotional health of the children involved. Divorce can be difficult, especially when children are involved. But it doesn’t have to be impossible to move through with respect and dignity, and finding the right attorney is something that can help you do just that.