When you discuss child custody, it’s important to keep in mind that these agreements can take many forms. An experienced and trusted San Bernardino child custody lawyer can help you fight for the arrangement that best fits your family’s needs.
These are three main types of child custody that reflect the potential outcomes of your custody arrangement.
Physical Custody
When people think of child custody, physical custody is often the first thing that comes to mind. Physical custody refers to the parent who lives with the child and provides daily care.
The parent who has physical custody is called the custodial parent and will be responsible for day-to-day parenting and decision-making. Courts will take a variety of factors into consideration, ranging from physical location to whether or not the parent has the resources to provide for a child financially and emotionally.
The court aims to find a solution that is in the best interest of the child, whether that means giving one parent sole physical custody or giving them shared custody.
The non-custodial parent will usually have designated visitation time. Visitation schedules often include weekends, holidays, or school vacations. An attorney can help you iron out these details in your child custody agreement.
Your child custody attorney can help you seek out physical custody by reasoning in court.
Legal Custody
While physical custody is hugely influential to a child’s life, it’s not the only form of custody available. Legal custody refers to the right to make legal decisions about your child’s life. That includes decisions about how your child is raised, such as education and medical care.
Having legal custody means you’ll be able to make joint decisions on what schools your child will attend, what religion they will practice, and the kind of medical care they will receive. All of these factors are major influences in a child’s life, so most parents aim to get legal custody of their children.
In most situations, parents will share legal custody, unless one of them has been determined unfit by the court. Parents may be considered unfit if there’s a history of domestic violence, drug use, or other concerns.
Otherwise, parents will typically have to work together to come to a resolution on these issues.
Joint Custody
When parents have joint custody, they’ll have to share responsibility for their children and care for them together. Since experts have pointed out the benefits of having both parents involved in childcare, most courts attempt to keep both parents involved as much as possible.
Joint physical custody means that the child will live with both parents and they both have a legal responsibility to care for the child. The child won’t necessarily spend an equal amount of time with each parent, but they will both spend significant amounts of time with the child.
Shared physical custody tends to require careful planning and a tight schedule. It works best when parents are capable of healthy communication and when they live near each other. That way, the logistics of joint parenting are workable.
Hire a Skilled Family Attorney to Help You Finalize Child Custody
If you are involved in a divorce dispute involving your children, a skilled child custody attorney is a valuable resource. The Law Offices of Linda J. Claypool can help you fight for the custody arrangement that most benefits your child.
For a free legal consultation, you may fill out our contact form or contact us at 951-787-8700 today!