Kinds of child custody explained

A divorce is never a completely easy process. Divorces are almost always messy. It can be really difficult if children are involved. Generally it is left to the court to decide which spouse will have custody of the children since the spouses generally do not reach an agreement on the issue of child custody. It is necessary, therefore, to understand what the criteria are for deciding who gets custody of a child in a divorce. Generally who gets child custody in a divorce will depend on few characteristics of the parents. The living conditions of each of the parents will be considered, as also income and lifestyle. The simple truth is that, often, a judge will award legal custody to a parent who has had physical custody of the child. Judges typically do not wish to disrupt a child’s life and routine any more than is required. There are other factors that the court will look at in deciding who received custody of a child in a divorce. Major factors like abuse, drug use, illegal activities, or emotional instability may force a court to consider granting the other parent custody of the child in the divorce.

There are various different types of child custody arrangements. If parents go through a divorce, they have the option of working out the child custody arrangements on their own. Unfortunately, in many cases, they are unable to come to an agreeable decision. When this occurs, a court must determine the child custody arrangement. Generally there are four types of child custody arrangements- joint legal custody, sole legal custody, sole physical custody, and joint physical custody. While the specifics of each kind can vary from one state to another, they do share certain characteristics. To start with, there are two types of legal custody arrangements. Legal custody primarily refers to the rights and responsibilities as they relate to the child and will include things like health, education, and general well-being. In joint legal custody, both parents have these rights and responsibilities. Joint legal custody mandates that the parents should be able to work together with one another for the benefits of the children. It also mandates that the parents submit a detailed plan to the court about how the joint legal custody can work. The other sort of legal custody arrangement is sole legal custody, in which one parent has those legal rights and responsibilities. In this type of custody the non-custodial parent can still have visitation rights. However the non-custodial parent will have few other rights regarding the kids. There are also two types of physical custody arrangements – sole physical custody and joint legal custody. The first one, sole physical custody, is an arrangement in which one parent has the majority of contact with the child, and the child lives exclusively with that parent. The non-custodial parent in this type of an arrangement can still have visitation rights. In joint physical custody both parents have large amounts of contact with the child. Child custody lawsuits require skill and experience. Seek the assistance of experienced divorce lawyers.