It can be difficult to navigate the legal system when it comes to matters of child custody. Having a Galveston divorce lawyer beside you can ease out things for you. Child custody arrangements are a difficult and contentious decision for divorcing parents. There are many different types of custody arrangements for children to choose from, but not all of them will work for every family.
Child custody arrangements can be broken into two major categories, legal and physical. Legal custody deals with which parent has the authority to make decisions about educational, medical, religious, and other child-related issues. At the same time, physical custody deals with where the child lives on a day-to-day basis.
Let us now have a look into the most common types of child custody arrangements in Galveston.
- Physical custody
Physical custody is the right for one parent to have exclusive possession of a child without interference from the other parent. This means that the parent with physical custody has control over the child’s residence, clothing, food, and care. Physical custody can also include matters such as school attendance, healthcare decisions, and religious upbringing. Any disputes that arise should be handled through mediation or arbitration.
- Legal custody
Legal custody is the authority to care for a child and make decisions about their upbringing. In many cases, one parent will have sole legal custody of the child. This means that this parent has the sole right to make decisions about the child’s future. If there were any disagreements on who gets legal custody of the children, then it would be up to the court to decide which parent should be granted custody of them.
- Sole custody
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, sole custody is when one parent has full guardianship of the children, and the other parent has no responsibilities for their children. Very few American parents live with sole custody (less than 5%). There are many different types of family structures, but most involve both parents having responsibilities for their children. The kind of parenting a child should have depends on whether or not they have been abused, neglected, or abandoned by one of their parents.
- Joint custody
Joint custody of children is an arrangement in which one or both parents have the responsibility of caring for their children after divorce, separation, or the death of a spouse. Joint custody is most often awarded to parents who are able to work together on decisions concerning their children’s upbringing and who can create a cooperative environment for their kids. Some people believe that joint custody prevents any one parent from being too involved in raising the child because two parents are involved.
