Types of child custody
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When two people get separated, divorced or simply end their relationship it is a trying time for both parties. When there are children between the two parties, it makes everything more emotional. Each parent should want what is best for the children. However, each parent might also have a different idea of what this is. The court system will deal with the area of child custody based on certain standards put in place in each state. There are a few different types of child custody.
If a parent has legal custody of their child, it means that parent has the right and the obligation to make decisions about a child’s upbringing. The parent that has legal custody of their child gets to makes decisions about school, religion and medical care without having to seek consent of the other parent. If two parents have joint legal custody, they get to share the decision making properties in regards to the child. This works great if the parents have similar ideas, but it can cause a lot of tension if one parent disagrees with another regarding religion or medical decisions.
If a mother and father have joint legal custody of a child and one parent prevents another from being a part of the decision making process, they can be forced by the court to comply. Although you won’t be fined or jailed, it can be embarrassing and harmful to the children.
Physical custody means that a parent has the right to have the child live with him or her. In some states, the court will award joint physical custody to both parents and the child will spend significant amounts of with both parents. This works best for parents who live fairly close to each other. This just causes less stress to the kids and allows them to keep to a normal routine with both parents in their lives equally. There is also sole physical custody where the child lives primarily with one parent and has visitation with the other parent.
Sole custody to one parent is awarded if the other parent is deemed unfit to take care of the child. If there are charges of child abuse, neglect or drug dependency then that can show that one parent is unfit. However, a court will usually at least award supervised visitation to the unfit parent. Most courts are trying to get away from sole custody as a general rule so as to increase a father’s role in the child’s life. Sometimes one parent will have sole physical custody, but the parents will share joint legal custody. In this case, the noncustodial parent will have visitation rights. These parents share decision making, but the child lives with one and visits the other.
Joint custody is also called shared custody – and that’s just what it is. This means the share all decision making responsibilities, physical control and custody. In the case of total joint custody, the child lives 50% of the time with one parent and 50% of the time with the other. If the parents can’t agree on an arrangement, the court will be forced to impose one on them.