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Understanding the ‘best interest" standard.

© Annelies Mouring

Recently, A New York family court made a father continue to pay child support after finding out that the child was not his. http://www.lawnewsnetwork.com/stories/A5... Why? It was in the child's "best interest." The child was 13 years old before the paternity test was done. The court found that this child, whom the father and the court assumed was born into the marriage, was not. However, this was the only father that the child ever knew and terminating the relationship could be detrimental to the child. All 13 years of the child's life, this person assumed the role of the child's father. This outweighed the economical considerations of the child support. Not to say that this happens in every case, because it doesn't, the standard that is applied is fairly universal. Exactly how each state applies the "best interest standard' may be different but the basic concept is the same.

What is the best interest standard? The best interest standard is a legal standard that determines which parent would be better suited to have custody of the children of the family. This standard is only applied with the court must decided the parent with which the child or children will live. The court weighs many factors to determine what is best for the child. Many states, look to establish continuity. For example, which parent the child spends the majority of time with, who is the primary caretaker, who would continue the same routine, promote love and affection with the other parent. Many courts have a check-list of sort that they run down and weigh all the factors before deciding. In most jurisdictions, a pre-determined list of consideration is in the statutes. It is a common misconception that the mother will be automatically given custody. Many years ago, this was the trend but that was because the mother was the primary caregiver. Today, that is not as common since both parents work to make ends meet and so the child raising duties are also split. Accordingly, it is also a common misconception that the more financially stable parent would make a better parent. This like the wishes of the child is one of the many factors that must be weighed by the court. Likewise, it is decided on an individual basis because each family and the person that make up the family are different.

A difficult task. Just like Solomon had to decide the fate of the "real" mother in the Bible, the courts must decide which parent would be better for the child. First of all it is a difficult enough task to chose who is better and this is a task that many judges must choose often. Thus part of the reasoning for the standard. To give judges some guidance to choose the parent that will be the best for the child. So whenever there is a matter in from the court, be it a modification, a divorce, a child support enforcement hearing, visitation hearing or custody determination, the court will also take into account what is the best for the child in making its decision.

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