There is a difference between legal child custody and physical child custody. Often this terminology is confused, which can lead to disputes when parents are trying to make major decisions affecting the child. Legal custody essentially means decision making. Physical custody, on the other hand, is where the child physically is – which parent they are spending the night with.
Most parents will share joint legal custody of their child. Thus, they will have equal input into decisions that are made for the child’s upbringing – what school they will attend, where they will go to the dentist, what church they will go to, and what sport they will play in the Fall. Sometimes, parents are not able to agree with each other on these types of issues. This is often the biggest area where disputes arise between parents after an order has been set in place. Some orders contain icebreaker language, which provides that the parents shall work together to make major decision, but that one parent will ultimately have the final decision making authority. Other orders will provide that the parents are each able to make decisions for different issues – dad, for example, may make all educational decisions, while mom makes all medical decisions. Another option is to force the parties to attend binding arbitration (sort of like a private trial) in the event they are unable to reach an agreement on a major decision. So – what does it mean to have legal custody of my child? How does this impact my relationship with my child? Legal custody provides you with the opportunity to actively provide input and make decisions on how your child is to be raised. Unless one parent is not interested, not involved, or simply unfit to make decisions for the child, this is almost always shared jointly. Regardless of what and how parties feel about each other, it is almost always in the child’s best interest to work together to make joint decisions on their upbringing. If you need to speak with an experienced family law attorney, please contact Adkins Law. Adkins Law is located in Huntersville and primarily serves Mecklenburg County and the Lake Norman area.
4 Comments
8/8/2019 12:16:26 pm
Thank you for explaining that having legal custody of a child means having the right to make decisions about the child's life. My brother is going through a divorce right now. I will make sure to explain this to him and help him find a good family lawyer.
Reply
Chris Adkins
8/8/2019 01:01:40 pm
You're welcome Skyler. Please let us know if you have any questions or if we may be of service.
Reply
6/3/2022 10:54:28 am
My friend is afraid of losing custody of his kids. It makes sense that he might want to get a child custody lawyer to help out with that. I can see how they would be able to set up a good defense for that.
Reply
RIC
6/9/2022 03:02:20 pm
I really want to thank Dr Emu for saving my marriage. My wife really treated me badly and left home for almost 3 month this got me sick and confused. Then I told my friend about how my wife has changed towards me. Then she told me to contact Dr Emu that he will help me bring back my wife and change her back to a good woman. I never believed in all this but I gave it a try. Dr Emu casted a spell of return of love on her, and my wife came back home for forgiveness and today we are happy again. If you are going through any relationship stress or you want back your Ex or Divorce husband you can contact his whatsapp +2347012841542 or email emutemple@gmail.com website: Https://emutemple.wordpress.com/ Https://web.facebook.com/Emu-Temple-104891335203341
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
January 2022
|