Rotate Legal West Virginia Family Law Forms For Free

West Virginia courts have long used the ?best interest of the child? standard when determining custody, and that hasn't changed. Still, the new law instructs judges to presume that a 50-50 split in physical custody is in the child's best interest.

ARTICLE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS; DEFINITIONS. (b) ?Basic shared parenting? means an arrangement under which one parent keeps a child or children overnight for less than 35 percent of the year and under which both parents contribute to the expenses of the child or children in addition to the payment of child support.

(e) In establishing a temporary parenting plan, there shall be a presumption in favor of equal (50-50) physical custody which is rebuttable by a preponderance of the evidence, to be evaluated and considered in ance with the criteria set forth in §48-9-209 of this code.

Unfortunately there are no forms available online through the West Virginia court system. You should contact the office of the circuit court in whichever county you wish to file for divorce, or the county where your divorce was filed, and receive the necessary forms there.

West Virginia custody laws generally consider the preferences of children 14 and older to be well-reasoned and sufficiently mature. Children younger than 14 can have their preferences heard as well, but it will be up to a judge to decide how much weight to give a younger child's preference.

In West Virginia shared custody, the nonresidential parent pays child support to the residential parent. In the case of a 50/50 split, the higher earner generally pays child support to the lower earner to ensure the children's standard of living is the same in both locations.