When you get married, you generally take on the responsibilities of your spouse, including the role of parent to any children they had from a prior relationship. But what happens in a divorce? In cases where the children are not biologically their own, people often wonder whether or not they have any rights or will be obligated to pay support. Unfortunately, there is no simple answer, as there are a number of factors to consider.

Custody

Particularly in a longer marriage, you may have established a special relationship with the child and don't want to lose that simply because of the divorce. While visitation is generally something you could easily have approved by the courts, getting physical custody, whether it be joint or sole, could be quite a challenge. Courts make decisions based solely on the welfare of the child.

Unless there is a case of neglect or abuse, the court often finds that the welfare of a child is best protected with their biological parent. However, there is a gray area. For example, take a child who is 13 years old. If the non-biological parent has been married to the biological parent since the child was six months old, and the other biological parent is absent, the court might be willing to grant some form of custody, as the child doesn't know anyone else as their parent.

Child Support

When it comes to cases of non-biological children and marriage, child support is determined based on a variety of details about the situation, including information concerning whether a non-biological parent emotionally or financially acts like a parent to a child. Using the previous example of the 13-year-old, since the child's other biological parent was absent, it's fairly safe to assume that the non-biological parent contributed to the child's care.

In this case, the court will likely require that they pay child support once the divorce is final even though the child isn't biologically theirs. However, in a shorter marriage where the non-biological spouse can prove that they did not have a close relationship with the child and did not help take care of them financially, the court may waive the non-biological parent's responsibility for child support.

Non-biological children and divorce is a case that offers a real challenge when it comes to determining your rights. Make sure you have an attorney on your side, such as an attorney from The Law Office of Rita M Gribko LLC.