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Simple English definitions for legal terms

primary-caregiver doctrine

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A quick definition of primary-caregiver doctrine:

The primary-caregiver doctrine is a rule in family law that says when parents are fighting over who gets custody of a child, the parent who takes care of the child the most will usually win. This only applies if the parent is a good caregiver. The court will look at how much time the parent spends with the child and how well they take care of them. The rule is different for children of different ages. For kids under 6, the parent who takes care of them the most will almost always win. For kids between 6 and 14, the court might ask the child who they want to live with, but the parents won't be there. For kids 14 and older, the court might let the child choose who they want to live with, as long as both parents are good caregivers.

A more thorough explanation:

The primary-caregiver doctrine is a presumption in family law that in a custody dispute, the parent who is the child's main caregiver will be the child's custodian, assuming that he or she is a fit parent. This means that the parent who has been providing the most care for the child will likely be awarded custody.

The doctrine takes into account both the quality and quantity of care that a parent gives a child, but does not include supervisory care by others while the child is in the parent's custody. The age of the child is also considered, with different rules for children under 6, those between 6 and 14, and those 14 and older.

For example, if a mother has been the primary caregiver for her young child, the court may presume that she should be awarded custody in a custody dispute, assuming that she is a fit parent. However, if the child is older and has a strong preference for living with the father, the court may take that into account when making a custody decision.

The primary-caregiver doctrine is also known as the primary-caretaker doctrine, primary-caregiver presumption, primary-caretaker presumption, or primary-caregiver preference. It is different from the maternal-preference presumption and the tender-years doctrine.

primary caregiver | primary caretaker

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to be fair this accurately represents my mental state
election day psychosis coming in hot (fordham)
usc pls pull through .....
i literally just need one A so i can relax before my ED decision
WorthlessAttractiveZombie
9:38
oh that's right USC might release
soapy
9:43
USC still has not looked at my app
WorthlessAttractiveZombie
9:43
when did you submit soapy?
soapy
9:44
10/16
WorthlessAttractiveZombie
9:44
to be fair it took them almost 2 months for me to go under review
soapy
9:44
Feelin a bit stressed, as I've got no date change for Michigan either despite applying 10/7
WorthlessAttractiveZombie
9:45
I have not had a date change either for Mich but I've seen people get in without one so who knows
I applied 9/25 to like 6 schools and some (Houston) have no date change yet so dw
soapy
9:46
But do people get in without addresses going long?
WorthlessAttractiveZombie
9:46
it's tough to tell because a lot of people type out their addresses long to begin with
soapy
9:46
Ah. I didn't. Looking back, my Mich supplement kind of sucks, so there's that
Mich overrated (Dean Z please let me in even tho i didnt apply and I am below both 25ths)
ClassyPleasantHeron
10:01
The "date changes" at Michigan really don't mean anything. We had to do them in undergrad admissions whenever a Georgia applicant picked the country instead of the state, because we'd have to remove the TOEFL requirement and reassign the application from the international application readers.
soapy
10:06
Classy, does that mean they may look at your application, and that look doesn't necessarily trigger any date change?
1a2b3c4d26z
10:06
Man
1a2b3c4d26z
10:07
Walkin to the bus
1a2b3c4d26z
10:07
What a good day to get into law school
ClassyPleasantHeron
10:11
@soapy: I don't know for sure about the law school. For undergrad, once the application is complete, it's assigned to a reader the following Monday. If we had to make any changes, it's because a reader saw something that needed to be changed and the application needed to be re-read after that change.
soapy
10:12
Ahh, got it. Thank you for the insight!
ClassyPleasantHeron
10:14
You're welcome. FWIW, I have no idea what's up with the address changes. We didn't have to do any of that, except for the Georgia state vs country kinds of things.
soapy
10:15
I've heard it theorized that some schools will change the address from "St." --> "Street" as they prepare to send out admissions packets. That's the rumor, anyways.
i think it just indicates a change in status like under review or stages of review
my stanford address went long as soon as it was marked complete lmao
soapy
10:25
I saw some Reddit adcom say that they can see any time we refresh the status checker; I wonder if it's a red flag if an applicant's checked it like 50 times in a day?
soapy
10:25
Also, can we send another LoR to a school that we've already applied to?
soapy
10:26
Or another essay?
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