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“Custody” is the legal term that refers to a parent’s right and responsibility to make decisions about how a child is raised. This includes decisions about the child’s schooling, healthcare, religion, and general well-being. Custody arrangements can often be found in court orders or other legal agreements, especially if the parents are divorced or separated.
Custody arrangements can vary a lot. They are based on the specific circumstances of the parents and the best interests of the child. In some cases, parents may share both legal and physical custody, while in others, one parent may have sole custody with the other parent having visitation rights. The specific custody terms are typically outlined in a parenting plan or custody agreement approved by the court.
This involves the right to make important decisions about the child's life, such as those related to education, medical care, and religion. Legal custody can be joint, where both parents share the right to make decisions, or sole, where one parent has the exclusive right to make these decisions.
This refers to who the child lives with. Often, one parent will have “primary physical custody,” meaning the child lives with them, while the other parent will have visitation rights.
Some courts prefer joint custody, or 50/50 parenting time. In this scenario, the children spend equal time with both parents. If this is the standard practice of your court and you don’t want it, you will have to prove why the children should spend more time with you instead of the other parent.
If the child’s parents are not married, paternity will have to be established before any custody order can be entered. One way to establish paternity is to have the father’s name on the birth certificate. If the father’s name is not on the birth certificate, the court will most likely order a paternity test.
If a married woman has a child, that child is legally presumed to be her husband’s child. Only her husband can challenge paternity in court.
This is an old, and often surprising, area of the law.
Most courts have “standard” visitation terms. These terms can vary from county to county. You should ask the court what their standard visitation schedule is.
If you and the co-parent can agree on other terms, the court will probably enter those terms.
If you can’t agree, you will have to show why your proposed visitation terms are in the child’s best interest.
