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One of the hardest things to deal with during the breakup of a marriage and the divorce is children. Of course, when the family splits apart children generally have to live for most of the time with one parent and the other parent will have visitation rights to their children. The parent whom the children live with for the majority of time will have custody over the children while the other partner has access to the children during agreed times. However, there are circumstances where this may differ. When it comes to custody issues, many problems may crop up, so here we look at some of the most common child custody laws and situations that may crop up after a divorce.
To begin with there are many different types of child custody and so there are different types of laws pertaining to those custody types. Child custody issues and rights may also differ depending on where you live. Generally, the four main types of custody include sole custody, joint custody, legal custody and physical custody.
Legal custody of children
If you are granted legal custody of child/children then you are given the ability of being able to decide how the child/children are raised. You are able to make any decisions concerning the child’s future. These may be such decisions as which school the child will attend, choose dental and health care and determine the religious education that the child will have. If legal custody is given to just one of the parents, then it is only that parent who has these rights. If both parents are given legal custody of the child then both parents have an equal say in all matters concerning the upbringing of the child. Legal custody may be given to both parents even if only one parent has physical custody.
Physical custody of children
The parent whom the child/children live with is said to have physical custody. Sometimes one of the parents is given sole physical custody of the child while the other parent is given visitation rights. However, joint physical custody may also be awarded and this means that the child/children will spend equal time living in the homes of both parents.
Joint custody of children
Joint custody as the name suggests means that both parents have custody of the child/children. However, this may mean joint legal custody or joint physical custody or even joint physical and legal custody together. As mentioned above if both parents are given joint legal custody then both parents have to work together when it comes to making any decisions regarding the child/children’s future. If both are granted physical custody then of course the child/children will stay with each parent for equal amounts of time. If both forms of custody are shared then children will spend equal time with both parents and parents have to work together in making decisions.
Sole custody of children
If you are given sole custody of the child/children then you have legal and physical custody of the child/children in your care.
Child custody and grand parents
If neither parent is able to take care of the child/children then it may be down to the grandparents of the child/children to be given custody of them as outlined above. In this case, the parents would lose their rights in making decisions in bringing up the child/children if grandparents have been given legal custody. In the form of physical custody, the children would live with their grandparents as opposed to living with either parent. In this case, the parents may or may not be given visitation rights to the children. It is only in certain extreme cases of course where custody would be given to the grandparents over the parents.
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