What are the Different Types of Child Custody
There are several different types of child custody arrangements. When parents go through a divorce they have the option of working out those arrangements on their own through mutual discussions & negotiations. But, if for some reason, the parents cannot arrive at an agreeable solution then the court steps in & it decides on the type of custody arrangements or who gets the custody of the child.
There are basically four types of custody arrangements. They are; joint legal custody. Sole legal custody, joint physical custody & sole physical custody. Legal custody means that the parent having the custody of the child will have the power to make all the decision about the needs of the child regarding health, education, care, religion etc. In physical custody the, one parent gets custody of the child & the other has only visitation rights over the kid. Here, the child gets to spend time with both the parents & both the parents get to retain their rights over their child.
Let us now tell you the different custody arrangements in a bit more detail.
1. Sole legal custody: This type of custody is given to only one of the parents. The parents having this type of custody over the child has power to make major decisions on behalf of the child. This includes decisions regarding the child’s education, health, religion, care & many more.
2. Joint legal custody: This type of legal custody is shared by both the parents. This means that both the parents gets to have the rights to make major decision on behalf of the child. In most cases joint legal custody is awarded to make both the parents retain their legal rights over their kids. It should be noted that joint legal custody can be awarded to the parents without joint physical custody.
3. Sole physical custody: In this type of custody arrangement the child physically stays at the place of one of the parents & the other parent is given generous visitation rights over the child. Even though one parent may have physical custody over the child, as far as decision making is concerned, both the parents gets to have that right equally. In this type of custody arrangement, at times, the court may not grant visitation rights to the non-custodial parent if it feels that contact with the other parent might cause harm to the child in any way.
4. Joint physical custody: In joint custody the child gets to live with both his parents at their house. This type of custody arrangement is also called shared custody or shared parenting. Most of the time the child gets to spent half his time with one parent & the other half with the other parent.
5. Bird’s nest custody: In this type of arrangement the child does not go to his parent’s home, instead the parents come to spend time with him at his place. This type of custody arrangement happens when the child resides in one central location & the parents take their turns to spend time with him/her.
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