Divorce: Physical Custody Definitions

Divorce is viewed as the breaking of a legal marriage between two persons or it can be termed as the dissolution of marriage. Most of us today have been touched by divorce either directly or indirectly. At times divorces have more of a wrecking ball effect to a good family while in other cases it is a necessary evil for the safety of the parties to the divorce, the family or the children. While each person has their own opinion and outlook on divorce, the decision to divorce sits with one or both spouses. A previous article discussed a few terms in respect of child custody, such terms were:

• Legal custody - this is the right to make major decisions about a child’s welfare, health and education
• Joint legal custody - where both parents share the right and responsibility to make decisions in respect of the health, education and the welfare of the child. 
• Sole legal custody - where one parent has the sole right to make decisions without consulting for receiving input from the other parent in respect of all major decisions to do with the child.
  

The previous article clearly stated that any decision in respect of legal custody does not necessarily determine the type of physical custody that is decided upon by the court. Further, it must be noted that all decisions made in respect of a child to a divorce are based on the best interests of the child and all other factors come secondary to this.

Physical custody 

Physical custody refers to where a child will live after a divorce or separation of his or her parents. Physical custody is different to legal custody; a parent with physical custody of a child has the right to have the child physically present in that parent’s home. If a child lives solely with one parent, that parent is referred to as the ‘custodial’ or ‘residential’ parent. The other parent is referred to as the ‘noncustodial’ or ‘nonresidential’ parent and normally that parent will have visitation rights to see the child. In order to make a decision as to how custody should be awarded, and if parents will have visitation rights, courts will start by determining what is in the child’s best interests.
 
There are two aspects to physical custody, these are:

Joint physical custody - this means that both parents have set periods of physical custody. If the child’s time is divided equally or close to equally between the parents, the parents are said to be sharing joint physical custody.


If you are looking for divorce attorney in El Dorado County (), the author recommends Natalia V. Jeffs, Attorney at Law.