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EspañolWhere can I get additional information about custody in Oregon?
We hope the following links to outside sources may be helpful.
Oregon Law Help has information about child custody and parenting time in Oregon.
The Oregon Judicial Department also provides information about Oregon custody law and related topics as well as court forms.
WomensLaw.org is unrelated to the above organizations and cannot vouch for the accuracy of their sites. We provide these links for your information only.
What factors are considered by a judge when deciding custody?
The judge will always evaluate the best interests of the minor child when making a custody determination. No preference, in general, is given to either the mother or the father.1 In Oregon, “best interests” is based on the following factors:
- the emotional ties between the child and other family members;
- the interest and attitude a party seeking custody has towards the child;
- the desirability of continuing an existing relationship;
- the abuse of one parent by the other; see Can a parent who has committed violence get custody? for more information;
- the preference for the primary caregiver if the judge determines s/he is fit;
- the willingness of each parent to support a continuing relationship with the other parent and the child. However, this factor will not be considered if:
- one parent abused or sexually assaulted the other parent or the child; and
- a continuing relationship with the abusive parent would endanger the health or safety of the parent or child; and
- any other factors that the judge decides are relevant.2
The judge may consider the following additional factors related to either party only if it is shown that any of these factors are causing or may cause emotional or physical damage to the child:
- behavior (conduct);
- marital status;
- income;
- social environment; and
- lifestyle.1
If a parent has a disability, as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act, the judge can only consider his/her disability in determining custody if the judge finds that his/her behaviors or limitations related to the disability are endangering or will likely endanger the health, safety, or welfare of the child.1
1 Or. Rev. Stat. § 107.137(2) – (5)
2 Or. Rev. Stat. § 107.137(1)
Should I start a court case to ask for supervised visits?
If you are not comfortable with the abuser being alone with your child, you might be thinking about asking the judge to order that visits with your child be supervised. If you are already in court because the abuser filed for visitation or custody, you may not have much to lose by asking that the visits be supervised if you can present a valid reason for your request (although this may depend on your situation).
However, if there is no current court case, please get legal advice before you start a court case to ask for supervised visits. We strongly recommend that you talk to an attorney who specializes in custody matters to find out what you would have to prove to get the visits supervised and how long supervised visits would last, based on the facts of your case.
In the majority of cases, supervised visits are only a temporary measure. Although the exact visitation order will vary by state, county, or judge, the judge might order a professional to observe the other parent on a certain amount of visits or the visits might be supervised by a relative for a certain amount of time – and if there are no obvious problems, the visits may likely become unsupervised. Oftentimes, at the end of a case, the other parent ends up with more frequent and/ or longer visits than s/he had before you went into court or even some form of custody.
In some cases, to protect your child from immediate danger by the abuser, starting a case to ask for custody and supervised visits is appropriate. To find out what may be best in your situation, please go to Oregon Finding a Lawyer to seek out legal advice.
