What Does Sole Physical Custody Mean For Your Divorce?
Options for dealing with child custody abound and the choices can be confusing for divorcing parents. Even the names the various types of custody are called are confusing. To make matters more complicated, there are two main categories of custody with other subcategories underneath. More and more, custody and visitation arrangements are known under the heading of "parenting plans" and one of the most common and traditional forms of custody is called sole custody. Read on to find out more about this choice in parenting plans.
Physical and Legal Custody
Unless a parent has been stripped of their parenting rights, both parents will have legal custody of the child during and after the divorce. In some states, the divorce decree includes a statement about legal custody, but in others it's assumed as long as the parent is fit. That means that both parents have equal footing when it comes to making major decisions about the child. What constitutes major decisions usually mean those that concern:
- Discipline
- Education
- Health and medical
- Religion
- Freedom to move away from the other parent
Physical Custody
As you might imagine, this means where the child will spend the vast majority of time. The time can be divided between the two parents, though, and that is known as shared or 50/50 physical custody. In sole custody, the child resides mostly with one parent. Confusingly enough, when both parents have legal custody and one has sole physical custody, it might be known simply as joint custody. Sole custody has been the option of choice for a long time for several reasons:
- Though the child may live primarily with one parent, visitation plans allow the parents to customize exactly how much time the other parent spends with the child.
- The child is able to feel more secure in a single home rather than bouncing around between the two parents.
- If the home is where they've been residing for some time, then it's even better.
- Both parents share equal responsibility for important decision making while providing a home base for the child. With children being busier than ever, having one parent organize and keep up with activities may be less chaotic than shared custody.
Notes About Visitation
Having a workable visitation plan is vital. Some divorcing parents feel guilty about the divorce and attempt to make it up by over-scheduling their free time. It's devastating for a child to miss out on a planned outing so try to promise less and deliver more in terms of visitation.
To learn more about the sole custody choice, speak to your custody attorney.