A psychologist I have worked with on a child custody case gave me a list of factors that psychologists say are factors that a judge considers in awarding custody:
1. Mental stability of each parent
2. Each parent’s sense of responsibility to the child
3. Each parent’s moral character
4. Each parent’s ability to provide stable community involvement
5. Each parent’s affection for the child
6. Keeping the child with siblings
7. Each parent’s ability to provide access to schools
8. Keeping a young child with the mother
9. Physical health of each parent
10. The wishes of the parent
11. Professional advice
12. Each parent’s financial sufficiency
13. The child’s wishes
14. Length of time each parent has had custody
15. Each parent’s ability to provide contact with the child’s other relatives
16. Each parent’s ability to provide access to other children of about the same age
17. Each parent’s ability or intention to provide a two-parent home
18. Placing a child with the parent of the same sex
These factors are not the exactly the same legal factors you might find in case law in Arkansas or Texas, although, some are similar.
