In 2018, there were 22 million children who had one parent living outside their household. There were 2.6 million custodial fathers and over 10 million custodial mothers. These statistics haven’t changed much to date, and millions of children in America are living with custodial parents.

If you’re going through a divorce or separation, it’s a given that you want to know the different types of child custody. You may be looking to understand which kind of child custody you should request or which one you’re likely to get. In this post, we have compiled a comprehensive guide on the different types of child custody.

What Is Child Custody?

Every child has two parents. When these parents live together, they are both responsible for making decisions concerning the child. These decisions could be anything regarding education, religion, health care, residence, and overall upbringing.

The basics of child custody are simple, but we’ll give you an in-depth look for a better understanding. When these parents divorce or separate, they have to decide how they will share custody. Child custody determines the rights and responsibilities the parents maintain regarding the child.

The parent that gets custody is known as the custodial parent. Depending on the type of custody they get, either they could fully make the decisions themselves or still involve the other parent.

For instance, when a parent gets legal custody, they are solely in charge of making the decisions about the child’s upbringing. If the parents get shared legal custody, both will have the right to make those decisions, despite living separately.

About Child Custody and How It Works

When parents divorce or separate, it’s in everyone’s best interest that they agree on custody. Some couples choose the kind of child custody that works best for them, and mostly for their children. However, when faced with bitter and angry divorces and separation, most couples can’t agree on custodial rights.

During the divorce process, custodial arrangements become a part of the divorce decree, which names which parent will have custody and the visitation rights. The custody is always subject to change when parents can prove a change in circumstances or when the child comes of age.

Family and juvenile courts could also determine custody if they discover that one parent is unfit to take care of the child. These courts base their decisions on state laws, which vary greatly among different states. When the parents are unmarried, most states award full custody to the biological mother unless the father takes the necessary steps to get it.

It’s unlikely for an unwed father to win custody against a mother who has proven to be a good parent. However, the father can be a top priority over other people looking to adopt the child, including relatives, foster parents, or strangers.

Different Types of Child Custody

There are two basic types of child custody, which are legal and physical custody. However, these are further defined by whether only one parent gets custody, which is known as sole custody, or whether both parents get custody, known as joint custody.

There can be several possible combinations, like one parent having sole legal custody but still have to share joint physical custody. We understand these can be confusing, so let’s explore each one.

Legal Custody

When a parent gets legal custody, they get the right and obligation to make decisions about the upbringing of the child. In most states, both parents get joint legal custody so they can both share the right to make decisions on the fundamentals of raising the child. Of course, this may not always happen depending on each case, so one parent can get legal custody.

If you get joint legal custody and decide to exclude the other parent from the decision-making process, they have the right to take you back to court. If they do, the judge will enforce the custody agreement, and you’ll have to do as stipulated in the agreement.

If they do take you back to court, you don’t have to worry about being fined or jailed, but it will most certainly ruffle the friction between you and make the situation harder, especially for the child or children. Getting a lawyer to represent you will also be expensive, so it’s always better to obey the ruling and agree on joint legal custody if that’s necessary.

If you feel that the other parent is irresponsible and is making it impossible for joint legal custody to work by failing to communicate or being abusive, you can go back to court for sole legal custody.

Physical Custody

Physical custody essentially means that you get the right to live with the child. Some states award joint physical custody so the child can spend as much time with both parents, but this works well if the parents live close to one another. It can be stressful for the child if parents live far apart since it’s impossible to establish a normal routine.

When one parent gets sole physical custody, the other may get visitation rights. This means that the child will live with the custodial parent at all times. The non-custodial parent has to visit and get some parenting time as agreed upon. It’s possible for a parent to have sole legal custody and sole physical custody, depending on the case.

Sole Custody

If for any reason one of the parents is deemed unfit to raise the child, the other parent can get sole custody. It could be because that parent is irresponsible, negligent, or has child abuse or drug abuse issues. However, in recent times, courts are taking a broader approach to raising a child and looking to involve both parents.

Even when the court awards you sole physical custody of the child, they may award both of you joint legal custody so you can both play a significant role in the upbringing of your child. They also stand to get generous visitation rights.

There may be animosity between both parents during the divorce proceedings. Still, it’s in the best interest of the child not to seek sole custody unless the other parent could cause direct harm to your child. In some of these cases, the court may still allow supervised visitation.

Joint Custody

If parents are separated and don’t live together, they could get joint or shared custody of the child. This means they’ll both make decisions concerning the child’s upbringing and have physical control over the child. Joint custody can be anything from joint legal custody, joint physical custody, or joint legal and physical custody.

When you get joint custody, you’ll need to work out an arrangement that works for or your housing arrangements, work schedules, and the needs of your child. When both parents are unable to come to an agreement, the court imposes one, and they have to adhere to it. You can choose to split weeks between you, but you can also alternate months or years.

You can also choose to have the child on weekdays while the other parent has them on weekends. In some cases where parents get joint custody, the child or children remain at home while parents move in and out when it’s their turn. This arrangement is known as bird’s nest custody, but it could be expensive because you need to have three housing arrangements.

Visitation

When one parent gets sole legal and physical custody, the other parent may get visitation rights. The first type of visitation is unsupervised visitation, where the parent is allowed to be with the child unsupervised. They can take them to their home or go for an outing.

Supervised visitation is when there must be another adult present when the parent visits the child. The non-custodial parent may have the right to choose the responsible adult, who could be a family member, grandparent, or friend. In some cases, the court can assign a social worker to supervise interactions between parent and child.

Virtual visitation is the last option and is available for parents who live very far from the child. This is usually not the only mode of visitation as they could visit in person, but when not available, they can use video-conferencing technology to interact with the child.

The custodial parent has the right to determine when and how often the non-custodial parent can visit the child unless the court offers a specific calendar and schedule. If both parents have a working relationship, the non-custodial parent may get reasonable parenting-time to maintain a meaningful relationship with their child.

If there’s always conflict, visitation time may be limited, which could always lead to missed visits, inconveniences, and disputes. For this reason, most courts nowadays require that both parents come up with a visitation schedule that works for them. If not, the court provides one for them.

Do Mothers Have a Higher Chance of Getting Custody?

For the longest time, most states provided custody to the mother, especially for young children under five years of age. However, this is not necessarily the case right now, as some states have rejected that rule entirely. The courts must make the decision based on the interest of the child and must consider how fit both parents are to raise the child.

The law prohibits judges from making decisions based on gender. While that goes, they are just as prohibited from making decisions based on race. Both parents stand an equal chance of getting custody, although most couples decide to leave the child with the mothers.

Types of Child Custody: Everything You Need to Know

As you can see, there are different types of child custody. If you and your spouse are getting a divorce or separation, you can discuss the best kind of custody for your child or children.

This is much better than having the court decide. However, if you can’t come to an agreement, you can fight for custody as long as you have the best interest of your child.

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