Choosing The Best Form Of Child Custody

A divorce is never a completely easy procedure. Divorces are almost always messy. The divorce can be particularly difficult when 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. Usially who is given custody of a child 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 fact of the matter is that, typically, a court will grant legal custody to the parent who has had physical custody of the child. Judges typically do not wish to disrupt a childs 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. When parents go through a divorce, they have the choice of deciding the child custody arrangements on their own. However, in most cases, they are unable to come to an agreeable decision. When this occurs, a court must determine the child custody arrangement. There are four basic types of child custody arrangements- joint legal custody, sole legal custody, sole physical custody, and joint physical custody. Even though the specifics of each type may vary from one state to the next, they do share some characteristics. To start with, there are two kinds of legal custody arrangements. Legal custody primarily refers to the rights and responsibilities as they relate to the child and can include things like health, education, and general well-being. In joint legal custody, both parents have these rights and responsibilities. In joint legal custody, the parents should be able to work together with one another for the benefits of the children. In case of joint legal custody, the parents must submit a detailed plan to the court about how the joint legal custody can work. The other category of legal custody arrangement is sole legal custody, in which one parent retains 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. With sole physical custody, the non-custodial parent can again still retain visitation rights. In joint physical custody both parents have large amounts of contact with the child. Child custody rules are complex. Seek the assistance of an experienced divorce lawyer.