Child Custody laws describe the responsibility of guardianship over a child. In cases of divorce where children are involved, a court must rule on a child custodial arrangement as one of the terms of the divorce. Divorcing parents are free to reach agreement on an acceptable custody arrangement, however, in the minority of cases where parents dispute some aspect of the custody arrangements, the court will examine the family, the child, and the qualities or misdemeanors of either parent, before delivering a legally binding judgment intended to put the well-being of the child first. It is usually far preferable to reach a settlement outside of court, putting less strain on affected children, and being cheaper for the parents to avoid litigation.

Some examples of common arrangements made under child custody law include:

• One parent has full time custody. Other parent may be deceased, abandoned, or barred from access to the child.
• Mother has custody during the week, during school semesters, father has custody on weekends and optionally during school holidays, at the child's preference.
• Shared custody, where the child moves freely between his or her parents' two homes at will. Normally this would be seen where the children are in their late teens, and the divorce was amicable.
• One parent has sole custody, however a court order allows the other parent Visitation Rights, either under supervision at an agreed location (would only be seen in cases of previous abuse), or under more relaxed conditions where the child might accompany the visiting parent for an afternoon.

When a court considers a judgment on child custody, both mother and father are to be considered as having equal rights and responsibility to parent their children until they turn 18. Should a judge ultimately rule that one parent be given the greater portion of custodial time, he will do so out of consideration for the well-being of the child. Statistically, the mother is far more likely to be given the greater portion of custodial time than the father in the minority of cases that require court intervention.

The child custody law in most countries uses fairly similar criteria for determining child custody arrangements. A court can order that a child be evaluated by a court official - usually a psychologist - who will usually examine the child through simple verbal interviews with both parents, and the child too. The wishes of the child are usually given a lot of weight in a judge's decision, as is evidence of abuse, neglect, or incompetent parenting from either parent. Ultimately, the court will rule on what it determines is best for the child, after considering any submitted evidence, the wishes of all concerned, and the report by a court evaluator. Criminal records, secondary evidence of ongoing abuse, evidence of behavioral disorder, and clear evidence of a drug addiction by either parent are all strongly influential factors.

Another area that often concerns divorcing parents is the law surrounding child support payments. As mentioned, the law states that parents have an equal responsibility to provide for their children, financially and otherwise, until they are adults. Child support payments are managed through state-administered child support systems that exist to ensure this responsibility is met. Usually this takes the form of the non-custodial parent having a given amount removed from his or her wages at regular intervals, and being paid to the custodial parent via the government.

Child support is a shared responsibility, so even where a court has ordered the non-custodial parent (or parent with the smaller portion of custodial time) to make child support payments to the custodial parent, the custodial parent is expected to make equal contributions. While child support and child custody law are related, they are not directly connected. A parent who is barred from seeing their child, or who gets very little custody or visitation time, even if through no real fault of their own, is not obliged to pay any less because of it.

Individual countries and states will provide different formulae for calculating how much child support payments will be. Even so, most jurisdictions will look at the same two criteria: How much the non-custodial parent can afford to pay, and how much the child needs. By balancing these two things against each other, courts deliver judgments that necessarily take individual circumstances into account.

In the United States, Child support is managed by programs in each individual state, however, these are in turn managed by the federal Department of Health and Human Services, whose Administration for Children and Families collects and pays child support payment between parents, and enforces compliance in cases of non-payment. In Australia, child support payments are deducted directly from wages and salary, and paid by the parent's employer to the Child Support Agency Australia, who then pay the custodial parent. In the United Kingdom, child support is administered by the Child Support Agency.

In the United States, many child support obligations go completely unpaid, and a majority are in arrears to some degree. Surveys given to these parents have come up with common reasons why child support goes unpaid. More than a third reported being unable to pay, and a quarter boycott payment because of perceived unfair custody sharing or lack of visitation rights. A sixth boycotted payment because there was no guarantee that their child support payments were being used for their intended purpose by the other parent.