When it comes to child custody, it is important for all business professionals to understand the legal definitions and implications it has. In legal terms, custody refers to the rights of a natural or adoptive parent to make decisions that affect the daily lives of their child(ren). This includes determining their physical care, education, medical treatment and religious upbringing. Generally, there are two types of custody: legal and physical.
Legal Custody
Legal custody is a parent’s right to make major decisions that affect a child’s welfare such as educational, religious, and medical decisions. A parent can have either sole or joint legal custody. In sole legal custody, one parent makes major decisions regarding the child. In joint legal custody, the parents share decision-making for the child, with both parents having access to records, reports and other information related to the child’s care.
Physical Custody
Physical custody refers to a person’s right to have their child in their home, or in the home of someone else they choose for them to live with. These decisions also fall under parenting time or visitation which is when a parent is physically present with their child. The parent with physical custody, or possessory conservator as they are called in some states, will have day-to-day care with the child. The other parent can have what is called visitation, or possession, with the child, which may be supervised or unsupervised, depending on the court’s ruling.
Conclusion
It is essential for business professionals to understand the legal definitions and implications of child custody and the two types of custody—legal and physical. To make sound decisions, business professionals should also be aware of parenting time/visitation, as this impacts how often physical custody changes hands.