Parental custody is the term used to describe the responsibilities of parents towards their children.
Parents have the obligation and responsibility to take care of their children and to provide financially, physically and emotionally for them.
Parental custody refers to how these responsibilities are divided between the parents when the parents separate.
Here is some help for those who are seeking parental custody or are involved in a custody situation.
A more specific usage of the term parental custody is when a parent seeks custody of the children after a divorce or separation.
A parent may seek sole custody where the child lives with one parent and has visitation to the other parent.
Or parents may opt for joint custody.
There are two types of joint custody.
Physical joint custody means that the child lives with or spends time with each parent equally.
Legal joint custody means that the parents both have the legal right to make decisions about the children.
Parents may have legal joint custody without the physical.
Courts base decisions about parental custody on what is best for the child.
In many states, the more preferred arrangements are joint custody agreements.
It is usually in the best interest of the children to have good relationships with both parents.
When determining what arrangement is best for you and your child, it is helpful to consider information like if one of the parents was the primary caretaker before the divorce, how far apart the parents live from each other, if both parents live within the bounds of the child's school, etc.
It is generally best for the child to have as much consistency and normalcy as possible.
This means that the court will grant more time to the parent who can maintain the child's schedule as near as possible to what it was before the divorce.
The best scenario is when parents can work on a custody arrangement together.
If both parents give input and help each other with the final custody agreement, they will be more likely to uphold the agreement.
Parents who agree on the arrangements merely go to court and have their plan accepted.
If parents cannot come to an agreement, they should consider mediation.
If that doesn't work, parents will present their cases in court and the court will make the ultimate decisions.
Parental custody is an important issue for divorced parents to think about.
Coming up with your custody and visitation schedule will help you divide up the responsibilities of caring for your child.
Hopefully this information has helped you.