Three years ago a custody agreement was signed by my husband and his ex. In the agreement it stated that the ex would have full legal and physical custody. Now, my husband has more visitation than stated in the previous agreement. My question is…what must take place in order to get the order changed to have joint legal custody and possibly joint physical custody, so that my husband can have say in what takes place in his son’s life?
I am not sure about this but since the custody has not been heard in court, it would be a matter of your husband filing for custody. It would go through mediation and be heard as it would have been at the beginning of their separation. If the other parent is agreeing to this then I think that the court order could be signed by the judge once mediation is complete.
If the ex wants to fight it, then it would need to go to hearing to show that this is already the schedule and arrangement in place. Since the current agreement is not reflecting the arrangement as it is, your husband will need to show the courts why it is in the child’s best interest to have legal and physical custody divided evenly. This shouldn’t be difficult since the current arrangement is what’s being requested.
Your husband may file an action for child custody in the court system to seek joint legal custody.