WHAT IS JOINT CUSTODY?
Joint custody is a form of custody in which the parents agree to jointly discuss all major decisions pertaining to their children, including but not limited to education, health and religion. The child or children still primarily resides with one of the parents, but under joint custody, all major decisions are made jointly, rather than by only one of the parents.
Joint custody can mean joint legal custody or joint physical custody or both. Joint legal custody means that both parents make legal decisions and neither parents rights are superior. Joint physical custody means that the parents, in a manner that assures the child has substantially equal contact with both parents, share the physical residence of the child. There is no presumption in favor of sole or joint custody. The Court may order joint custody if both parents agree and submit a written parenting plan and the Court finds it in the best interests of the child. If the parents do not agree, the Court may still order joint custody if it determines that joint custody is in the childs best interests. Joint custody will not be awarded if the Court finds there has been significant domestic violence.
There are two kinds of joint custody, legal and physical. Joint legal custody gives the non-residential parent the right to participate in major decisions about the children’s upbringing and to view various records. In the traditional sole custody arrangement, the non-custodial parent has a right to a limited amount of contact with the child, and the requirement to pay child support, but is in many ways legally equivalent to a stranger. For example, a non-custodial parent cannot access his or her own child’s medical records without the custodial parent’s permission. Joint legal custody does not affect the child’s living arrangements. Often it is granted with the traditional residence arrangement, in which the child lives with one parent but is permitted to visit the other parent four days per month. With joint physical custody (also called shared parenting), the child lives with both parents, often on an alternating week basis. Joint physical custody is usually defined as a schedule wh
Joint legal custody, sometimes referred to as “divided” custody or “joint decision making” gives both parents a shared responsibility for and control of a child’s upbringing and decision making. It may or may not include an arrangement between the parents whereby they alternate physical custody of the child. Where there is “joint physical custody” the child lives alternatively with both parents. The daily child rearing decisions are made by the parent with whom the child is then living, while the major decisions, such as those involving religion, education, medical care, discipline, choice of school or camp, are jointly made.
Custody of the children is perhaps the most critical decision for all parties to make when a couple divorces. In each case, determining factors such as lifestyle, employment, and each parent’s ability to care for a child and best maintain the positive aspects of the environment the child has become accustomed to are taken into consideration before deciding which parent should be given custody. When it is clear that both parents are equally suitable caregivers, one common solution is to award both parents with joint custody. Joint custody refers to any arrangement that gives both parents legal responsibility in decision making that affects the child. This does not necessarily mean that a child spends equal time between two homes. Joint custody may be used to identify two different situations: joint legal custody and joint physical custody. Several factors differentiate these two terms. Joint physical custody involves a court-ordered schedule of caretaking that allows a child to spend a
