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Legal Custody
The right and responsibility of having to make the decisions regarding how the child is raised is what legal custody means. If a parent has legal custody, then they are allowed to make decisions regarding the child’s education, health care, and religious affiliation. It is not uncommon for many states to award joint legal custody to both parents, which allows them both to share the responsibility of making decisions for their children together.
If one parent fails to include the other when making decisions regarding their children when they share joint legal custody, then the parent can go back to court and ask the judge to enforce the custody agreement.
If the circumstances surrounding the two parents make it difficult to cooperate with shared legal custody, then your lawyer can ask the court for sole legal custody. Since most states prefer parents to share legal custody, your attorney will need to prove to the family court judge that is not in the best interests of the child.
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Physical Custody
This essentially means that a parent has the right to have a child live with them. If the child spends a lot of time with both respective parents, then it is not uncommon for the court to award joint physical custody; this works best in situations where the parents live close to each other because it reduces the amount of stress on the kids while still allowing them to maintain a somewhat normal and structured schedule.
While the child will generally live with one parent and have visitation with the other, the parent with whom the child lives with primarily usually has primary physical, and the other parent has the right to parenting time with them.
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Sole Custody
It is possible for one parent to have either sole physical or sole legal custody of a child. This is most common if one parent is deemed by the court to be an unfit parent for reasons such as alcoholism, child abuse allegations, drug addiction, neglect, etc.
States are currently working toward awarding less parents sole and more joint custody so that both parents can stay in the child’s life. Even if the court does award physical custody to one parent, it is not uncommon for both parents to share joint legal custody, with the other parent on a liberal visitation schedule.
While many divorcing couples don’t get along, it is best to only seek sole custody of your children if your spouse poses a legitimate danger to their well-being.
To learn more about how a lawyer can help you, contact USAttorneys.com today.
