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Parents Know Best: Revising Our Approach To Parental Custody Agreements, Linda Jellum

Articles

Historically, parents have not been able to determine custody of their children prior to marriage in the form of a prenuptial agreement. Although parents are able to enter into such agreements, courts normally have a great deal of latitude in ignoring these agreements. A majority of states merely consider the agreement as one factor in determining what is in the child's best interest, while the majority of the rest presume the agreement is in the best interest of the child unless the judge finds otherwise. Only two states defer to the parental agreement unless it would be harmful to the …