The 4 Types of Child Custody That You Should Know
Child custody
Physical child custody is the most common type of child custody that you hear so much about. Physical child custody means that one of the parents have the right to have the child live with one or the other. In some cases the state will award joint child custody
If the child is physically located in the domicile with one parent and has visitation with the other parent, generally the parent with whom the child primarily lives will have sole physical custody, with visitation to the other parent.
• Legal Child Custody
When a parent has legal child custody of a child it means that they have the full right as well as the obligation to make decisions about a child’s upbringing. A parent with legal child custody can make decisions about schooling, religion, and medical care, for example. In many states, the courts or a mediator will regularly award joint legal child custody, which means that the decision-making is shared by both parents.
If you share joint legal child custody with the other parent and you exclude him or her from the decision making process, your ex can take you back to court and ask the judge to enforce the child custody agreement. You won’t get fined or go to jail, but it will probably end up to be pretty embarrassing and cause more friction between the parents – which ultimately will end up causing more harm to the children in the long run. Here is a little tidbit of information that you may want to consider – if you are represented by an attorney, it’s sure to be VERY expensive.
If you think you have circumstances that make it impossible to share joint legal child custody (the other parent won’t communicate with you about important matters or is abusive), you can go to court and ask for sole legal custody. But, in many states, joint legal child custody is preferable, so you will have to convince a family court judge that it is not in the best interest of your child.
Once parent can have either sole legal child custody or sole physical child custody of a child. Courts generally won’t hesitate to award sole physical child custody to one parent if the other parent is deemed unfit – for example, because of alcohol or drug dependency, a new partner who is unfit, or changes of child abuse or neglect.
However, in most states, courts are moving away from awarding sole child custody to one parent and more towards enlarging the role a divorce father plays in his children’s lives. Even where courts do award sole physical child custody, the parties often still share joint legal child custody, and the noncustodial parent enjoys a generous visitation schedule. In that situation, the parents would make joint decisions about the child’s upbringing, but one parent would be deemed the primary physical caretaker, while the other parent would have visitation rights.
It’s understandable that there may be animosity between you and your ex-spouse. But it’s best not to seek sole child custody unless the other parent causes direct harm to the children. Even then, courts may simply allow supervised visitation, while still ordering joint legal child custody.
• Joint Child Custody
The term joint child custody is often referred to as shared child custody. Joint child custody normally takes place in a situation where both parents no longer reside together but they still share the full decision-making responsibilities for, and/or physical control and child custody of, their children. Joint child custody may exist if the parents are divorced, separated, or no longer cohabiting, or even if they never lived together.
Joint child custody may be any of the following:
- Joint legal child custody
- Joint physical child custody (where the children spend a significant portion of time with each parent), or
- Joint legal and physical child custody.
It is pretty common for couples who share physical child custody to also share legal child custody, but not necessarily the other way around.
• Joint Child Custody Arrangements
When the child’s parents share joint child custody, usually they work out a schedule according to their work requirements and housing arrangements and the children’s needs. If both parents cannot mutually agree on some sort of schedule, the courts will step in and impose some sort of arrangement. Again I must say that it is always better if things can be mutually agreed upon with the parents. Whenever the courts are brought in there is usually some animosity on the end of the parent who feels as if he or she has lost the battle. However if you find yourself in court a common resolution is for the children to split weeks between each parent’s living quarters. Other joint physical child custody arrangements include the following:
o Alternating months, years, or six-month periods, or
o Spending weekends and holidays with one parent, while spending weekdays with the other.
While doing my research for this article I found another arrangement that I found to be a bit ridiculous to say the least. Well I guess I will let you be the judge. With this joint child custody arrangement the children remain in the family home and the parents take turns moving in and out, spending their out time in separate housing of their own. The technical term for this type of child custody is called “bird’s nest custody.”
• The Ups and Downs of Joint Child Custody
Joint child custody has the advantages of assuring the children continuing contact and involvement with both parents. And it alleviates some of the burdens of parenting for each parent.
There are, of course, disadvantages:
o Children must be shuttled around.
o Parental noncooperation or ill will can have seriously negative effects on children.
o Maintaining two homes for the children can be expensive.
If you do have a joint child custody arrangement, maintain detailed and organized financial records of your expenses. Keep receipts for groceries, school and after-school activities, clothing, and medical care. At some point your ex may claim she or he has spent more money on the kids than you have, and a judge will appreciate your detailed records.
