The simulated courtroom may be transformed to a round-table discussion for this piece, addressing social science research applicable to the legal realities of parental rights when custody has not been established. The Wu Group website has been utilized to provide an informative article for the academic and research-oriented audience, to supplement the hand-holding approach employed in legal blogs and websites. The focused parent without legal custody is not a lost cause, as the promoted article explains; However, in states like Texas, if a parent without legal custody wish to make significant life decisions such as whether a child should change their school district, they might need to bring this up with the other parent or petition the court. If the parties have agreed to joint managing conservatorship in their divorce decree, it is likely they can discuss those topics in a more relaxed manner outside of the family law courtroom setting.
- Definition of legal custody and importance for both the social and the legal perspectives;
- What rights does a parent not granted legal custody persistently hold in most jurisdictions;
- How may joint decision-making rights of the parent not granted legal custody persist when certain particular steps are followed;
- Psychological impact of non-custodial rights (how do negative rights impact children and parents);
- Non-custodial parents that have actively contributed to their children in school and social roles;
- Statistical data on non-custodial parental involvement trends;
- Legal research in interplay with social studies regarding parental rights;
- What avenues or research questions does current law create?
- Raise consciousness on co-parenting ideas and strategies that have some scientific backing;
- Where do you envision where law may move with parental rights in the future?