Types of Child Custody

Are you getting divorced or breaking up with the father of your children and confused about the "child custody" types available? There are several custody situations that are used in the United States. All of the types may not be available in every state.

The first consideration is physical custody of the children or where the children will live. Joint physical custody means that each parent has the child living with him or her approximately fifty percent of the time. Sole physical custody involves the child living with one parent, and generally the other parent has visitation with the children.

The second broad type of custody is legal custody which designates who is responsible for making decisions on behalf of the children. Joint legal custody means that both parents share in the decisionmaking. However, this may not mean that both parents participate in all decisions. Sometimes, one parent will be assigned complete decisionmaking authority for one decision category such as education, and the other parent given full authority for another category such as medical care. Joint legal custody is by far the most common type of legal custody granted.

A parent with sole legal custody has the right to make all decisions on behalf of the child. However, he or she will still probably have the responsibility of informing the noncustodial parent about issues involving the child such as schooling or illness.

If one parent has one child living with him or her most of the time, and the other parent has another child living with him or her most of the time, the custody type is split custody. This is not commonly granted since judges are hesitant to split up siblings.

Bird's Nest custody is uncommon. In this scenario, the kids live in the same house 100% of the time. The parents then alternate living in the house such as living one week at the house and one week living somewhere else. This situation gives the kids stability, but the parents may have a difficult time maintaining a separate household to use when they don't have the kids plus the shared household. This option would require excellent communciation and cooperation between the two parents.

Often, various combinations of the custody types mentioned above are granted. Commonly, one parent receives sole physical custody so that the kids live in one residence and visit the other parent, and the parents are given joint legal custody so that both remain involved in parenting decisions.

Once a court has awarded custody, the type of custody granted may not remain in place until the children are eighteen. There may be provisions in the parenting agreement to review custody at strategic times in the child's life such as transitioning to elementatry school or high school. The child custody decision can be re-considered by the courts if there is evidence of child abuse or neglect by one of the parents. Also, either parent may decide to challenge the custody arrangement although there may be time limitations such as having to wait for two years after the last deicsion before reopening the case.

Be sure to carefully consider the available custody types in your state, and discuss the options with your attorney. Unless your situation has special considerations such as a mentally ill, violent, or incarcerated ex-partner, you will probably not convince a judge to grant you sole legal custody, even if you can't stand your ex. Keep your children's greater good in mind, and try to reach the best child custody agreement possible for your kids.