"Best interest of the child"!
To quote Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin) in "The Princess Bride" "You Keep Using That Word, I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means".
Of course I am referring to the term "Best interst of the child"!!!
How many times have you come across the phrase "Best interest of the child" only to be given no explanation of what it is.
The literal reading of the term would indicate that all sides of the matter are weighed against one another and what is found to be the most beneficial to the child is what the court is supposed to pick.
Lets break it down and see what we come up with.
We know that the court is "mandated" [shall] take into account [consider] the "best interest of the child" when determining:
Going back to English class for the basics.
The word "AND" is a joining word:
Cambridge Dictionary defines "AND" as: "used to join two words, phrases, parts of sentences, or related statements together:"
Merriam-webster defines "AND" as: "a logical operator that requires both of two inputs to be present or two conditions to be met for an output to be made or a statement to be executed"
Wordink.com defines "AND" as: "Connective: A word connecting a word, phrase, clause, or sentence with that which precedes it: a colorless particle without an exact synonym in English, but expressed approximately by ‘with, along with, together with, besides, also, moreover,’ the elements connected being grammatically coördinate".
That is a lot of time to spend on defining one common word, but I think the use of that word tells us a lot.
Meaning: The court is mandated [shall] to always take into account [consider] the "best interest of the child" when determining issues of "Conservatorship" and [in conjunction with, including, also, requires both, also, connects,... etc] "Possession/Access"
Of course I am referring to the term "Best interst of the child"!!!
How many times have you come across the phrase "Best interest of the child" only to be given no explanation of what it is.
The literal reading of the term would indicate that all sides of the matter are weighed against one another and what is found to be the most beneficial to the child is what the court is supposed to pick.
- Sec. 153.002. BEST INTEREST OF CHILD. The best interest of the child shall always be the primary consideration of the court in determining the issues of conservatorship and possession of and access to the child.
Lets break it down and see what we come up with.
We know that the court is "mandated" [shall] take into account [consider] the "best interest of the child" when determining:
- conservatorship
- AND
- possession/access
Going back to English class for the basics.
The word "AND" is a joining word:
Cambridge Dictionary defines "AND" as: "used to join two words, phrases, parts of sentences, or related statements together:"
Merriam-webster defines "AND" as: "a logical operator that requires both of two inputs to be present or two conditions to be met for an output to be made or a statement to be executed"
Wordink.com defines "AND" as: "Connective: A word connecting a word, phrase, clause, or sentence with that which precedes it: a colorless particle without an exact synonym in English, but expressed approximately by ‘with, along with, together with, besides, also, moreover,’ the elements connected being grammatically coördinate".
That is a lot of time to spend on defining one common word, but I think the use of that word tells us a lot.
- When the court is deciding on the "Best interest of the child", it must necessarily be deciding on both "Conservatorship" and "Possession/Access" as one.
- The word "AND" links (connects, joins, requires both, also, moreover...etc) "Conservatorship" with "Possession/Access"
Meaning: The court is mandated [shall] to always take into account [consider] the "best interest of the child" when determining issues of "Conservatorship" and [in conjunction with, including, also, requires both, also, connects,... etc] "Possession/Access"
