“You know how that saying goes, you repeat it enough times, people begin to believe it,” Neville told former House Judiciary chief counsel Julian Epstein.
West Virginia Legislative Photography
The West Virginia House of Delegates is slated to consider another bill this year to reform child custody laws.
House Bill 2363 creates a “Best Interests of the Child Protection Act,” requiring equal share of a child when parents first separate.
The legislation outlines the process for a hearing, during which a judge would help create an official plan for shared custody. The bill lists a child’s wishes, a parent’s motivation, proximity to school and relationships with siblings as determining factors.
No parent in this bill is allowed to have more than 65% of a child’s time, once a shared custody plan is created. The legislation makes exceptions for instances when a parent might be a danger to a child, with clear evidence of incompetence, abuse or neglect.