The portrait painted above indicates that there are a great many factors which a court will use to determine the best interest of a child. That said, however, there are three cardinal rules that generally prevail for most courts:

1) Stay at home mother: A devoted stay at home mom, almost always gains custody of the child over a working husband. This presumption is based upon the fact that, especially for young children, the court likes to place children in an environment where the parent is certain to be around often.

2) Established status quo: If either party has, for all practical purposes, already taken control of the child after separation but before any official declaration by the courts, the judge will typically interpret the current living arrangement as the default arrangement and all things being equal will uphold it.

3) Primary caregiver: If you can establish that you have been the primary care giver for a child then the law will typically presume that you are best situated to care for the child in the future and as a result grant you custody.

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