shared child custody logistics

hi all, I'm an American citizen and have a child (2.5 years) with a Dominican woman. I have asked her for joint custody of our daughter and she is receptive to the idea. I would like to know, if anyone has experience, how to go about changing the custody of our daughter to 50/50. is there an administrative office somewhere that we can just go to and fill out some paper work, or is an attorney required? any help would be much appreciated... hopefully it's not overly complicated.

thanks

Hello again, this post is a bit old now, but I am looking for a bit more info... so again, the mother has agreed to give me 50% custody of our daughter. We have agreed on a date for this, May 27, 2019. Note we are not together, never have been and we're never married

I recently went to the civil administration office in Bonao, where our daughter was born, to get an official copy of her birth certificate. While there, I asked about the custody issue. They told me, that the mother and I must go to the Menores court, the full exact name in Spanish I'm not sure of... which is near the civil office in Bonao. She said we can easily make this change, in lieu of the mother having de facto 100% custody.

I understand from Mr Guzman's response above that basically this joint custody agreement would establish a principle that decisions would then be based on the best interests of the child.

I suppose my questions would be, what decisions are we talking about? I currently live in the DR and the mother has agreed to have our daughter live with me for close to a year, to go to school at ISS (in Sosua)... starting this summer.

My goal with this agreement is to prevent the mother from making decisions about our daughter, including marrying and leaving the country with her, without my consent. Is it then possible for me to make an argument, that a move like this would not be in the best interest of the child. Or do I even have to make this argument? What actual rights do I have given official 50% custody? For example, do I then have the right to demand some custody of our daughter, or is that question always related to what is in the best interest of the child? Which I assume would have to be adjudicated.

I apologize if this seems confusing, but I am confused about it, so... again any help much appreciated

frank recktenwald said:

First of all since you and the mother have never been together have you taken a DNA test?

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paternity is not in question... thanks

Fabio J. Guzman said:

If you and the mother are in agreement, you should have a lawyer draw it up and take it to Minors' Court ("Tribunal de Niños, Niñas y Adolescentes") for approval.

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thank you, i will do that

Fabio J. Guzman said:

If you and the mother are in agreement, you should have a lawyer draw it up and take it to Minors' Court ("Tribunal de Niños, Niñas y Adolescentes") for approval.

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Sr Guzman, I am receiving conflicting information. And now the mother is asking for 70% custody, not joint custody. Please let me know what this 'agreement' that we would take to the Minor's court would actually say. Does it simply establish joint custody?

I have been told that the mother cannot take the child out of the country for any reason with my consent, which simple vacations, but also marriage and actually moving to another country. I.e, she cannot take my daughter even if she marries someone from another country and then chooses to live there. Again, unless she has my consent. And I assume then that there may be an adjudication to establish what is in the best interest of the child, in which case my consent may become moot.