Joint Legal Custody and Physical Custody: What’s The Difference Between The Two?
If you’ve ever heard of the terms joint legal custody and
joint physical custody, you may wonder if they mean the same thing.
Actually, they don’t. So, why do both terms mean?
Joint Legal custody
Both parents will share equal responsibility of their child. When
decisions are made – school, religion, summer camps and medical care –
both parents must work together for the best interest of the
child. Both parents not only share equal responsibilities,
they also have equal rights in how the child is raised. Therefore, one
parent is not the over-all decision maker. The amount of time
a parent spends with a child is not affected. The only things affected
are:
• Sharing of decision making
responsibilities
• Equal rights in how child is raised.
Joint Physical Custody
This means the parents will share equal responsibility and spend time
with the child. The parents will need to work together to make the
decisions that affect the child. There is no main decision
maker. The parents will have to work with each other to come
up with a plan that allows them equal time with the children.
Each plan needs to take into account the educational needs, especially
if the parents do not reside in the same school district.
Parents will also need to take into account any extracurricular
activities so that they don’t miss practices or games when developing a
plan. Both parents will need to work with each other to ensure the
child isn’t affected by the physical custody agreement. The child
should never feel like they’re missing out on events due to that agreement.
Mediation Can Solve The
Joint Legal and Physical Custody Issue
There are instances where the parents just cannot work with one another
to make decisions that are best for the kids. The mediation process can
help deal with the disputes during the parental access modification or
divorce process. Mediation ensures both parties have the chance to
settle the issues in a fair, immediate environment. Due to the
complexity of the law, it’s best to hire an attorney to help you with
this issue before your mediation hearing.
It’s not always easy to pick an option that’s best for the children,
which is why family law lawyer can look into your situation and decide
what’s best for all parties. Judges tend to send
disputed child custody to mediation, especially if the parents cannot
come up with their own plans. Meditators will sit with both
parents in an effort to develop an agreement that everyone can agree to
and meets the needs of the child. Any agreement developed
during the mediation process still need a judge to sign off on.