Finance and Law

Understanding the Different Types of Child Custody That Exist Today

<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Understanding the various types of child custody is essential in your case to maintain access to your children&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Some parents go into <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;newsforpublic&period;com&sol;child-custody-lawyer&sol;">child custody legal battles<&sol;a> without knowing what exactly each type of arrangement means&period; They either end up with an arrangement that they&&num;8217&semi;re unhappy with or don&&num;8217&semi;t know what to ask for&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">In this article&comma; we discuss the difference between legal child custody and physical child custody as well as others&period; Continue reading to find out what you want from your custody case&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Physical Child Custody<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">A parent with physical child custody is able to have their child or children live with them on a regular basis&period; This can be granted to a single parent or both parents&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Physical custody also means that if the parent moves&comma; the child can move with them&period; However&comma; this also depends on sole and joint custody&comma; which we will review shortly&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">It&&num;8217&semi;s important to keep in mind that having physical custody is not the same as having legal custody&period; Legal custody can affect physical custody if one parent lives far away or plans to move&period; So&comma; it&&num;8217&semi;s possible for your child to live with you without you having the ability to make legal decisions on their behalf&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Legal Child Custody<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Legal child custody refers to the decisions made in the child&&num;8217&semi;s life&period; For example&comma; a parent with legal child custody takes part in deciding where the child attends school&period; They also are responsible for making medical decisions on behalf of the child&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Child custody always focuses on what is in the best interest of the child&period; That sometimes means that a divorced couple may still have to work together in making important decisions for their child&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Legal custody is difficult for parents that do not work well together&period; Sometimes&comma; this leads to every little decision becoming a battle&comma; which is stressful for children&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">If this happens&comma; the judge may decide that joint legal custody is no longer in the child&&num;8217&semi;s best interest&period; This means you or your former spouse may lose legal custody of your child&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Paternity can affect the outcome of both legal and physical custody&period; To learn about establishing parental rights under Florida law&comma; follow this <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;klgflorida&period;com&sol;establishing-parental-rights-under-florida-law&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">link<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Joint Child Custody<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Among the different types of child custody&comma; joint child custody is by far the most preferred option in the legal system&period; Again&comma; custody arrangements always focus on what is in the best interest of the child&period; In most cases&comma; having equal access to both parents is most ideal&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Joint child custody doesn&&num;8217&semi;t necessarily mean an even split of time&period; However&comma; the aim is to make it as fair as possible&period; It depends on the child&&num;8217&semi;s ability to move between the two households&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">These types of custody arrangements can alternate week to week or month to month&period; It&&num;8217&semi;s even possible to spend one full year with one parent and another full year with the other&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">There are two subtypes of joint custody&colon; joint physical custody and joint legal custody&period; In some cases&comma; parents may share both physical and legal custody of their children&period; However&comma; that&&num;8217&semi;s not always the case&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">If parents live in different cities or different states&comma; it may not be possible for the child to reside at both locations regularly&period; In these cases&comma; one parent might have sole physical custody and joint legal custody while the other parent only has joint legal custody&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Sole Child Custody<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Sole child custody is less desirable among the different types of child custody because the child no longer has equal access to both parents&period; It&&num;8217&semi;s a practice that has become less common over the years&period; Though it is occasionally in the best interest of the child&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">This can happen if one parent is <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;hg&period;org&sol;legal-articles&sol;role-of-criminal-charges-on-determining-child-custody-43953&num;&colon;~&colon;text&equals;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">deemed unfit<&sol;a> by the court&period; You might be unfit for custody if you abuse drugs or have abused&sol;neglected your children&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Sole custody also doesn&&num;8217&semi;t have to be all or nothing&period; As in our earlier example&comma; parents that live far apart might not be able to share joint physical custody&period; So&comma; it&&num;8217&semi;s possible for one parent to have sole physical custody&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">As long as the other parent is fit&comma; they are still able to play a part in their child&&num;8217&semi;s life through joint legal custody&period; The opposite is true as well&period; A parent can have sole legal custody but still share physical custody&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Visitation Rights<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">If the judge grants sole custody to one parent&comma; it doesn&&num;8217&semi;t mean the other parent has no access to their children&period; Only in extreme cases would a parent get no access to their children&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">This is where visitation rights come into play&period; The judge may order either supervised or unsupervised visitation&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Unsupervised visitation means that the children can visit their parent or go on outings with their parent&period; They can even stay over at their parent&&num;8217&semi;s house with approval from the court&period; No supervision is required for this type of visitation&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Supervised visitation is used in more serious cases&period; For example&comma; if the parent has a criminal record or is a potential risk to the child&comma; they may need supervision for visits&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">In some cases&comma; a relative or family friend can supervise a visit&period; However&comma; the court may appoint a social worker or another type of professional to supervise visits&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Navigating the Various Types of Child Custody<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Divorce is already a stressful and confusing time and custody battles only make it harder&period; Plus&comma; navigating the various types of child custody can be confusing&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">However&comma; it&&num;8217&semi;s important that you do all you can to make the process easier on your child&period; Whether you seek sole child custody or joint child custody&comma; keep your child&&num;8217&semi;s interests at heart&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">For more articles on navigating the legal world&comma; visit our blog&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

Hardik Patel

Hardik Patel is a Digital Marketing Consultant and professional Blogger. He has 16+ years experience in SEO, SMO, SEM, Online reputation management, Affiliated Marketing and Content Marketing.

Share
Published by
Hardik Patel

Recent Posts

BuzzSumo Alternatives 2026- 10 Best Free and Paid BuzzSumo Alternatives

Are you finding Websites like BuzzSumo? Here are Top 10 Best Free and Paid BuzzSumo…

4 days ago

How to Manage a Construction Zone

Managing a construction zone is one of the most critical responsibilities in the building industry.…

5 days ago

5 Key Considerations When Using Bottle-Top Dispensers in Pharmaceutical Labs

Bottle-top dispensers are essential tools used in pharmaceutical labs because they allow and accurate dispensing…

7 days ago

How to Budget a Home Renovation Like a Pro

Renovating your home can be both exciting and overwhelming. Whether you’re updating a single room…

1 week ago

Stream2Watch Alternatives For Watching Sports Online 2026

Are you Finding Stream2Watch Alternatives Websites? Here are 18+ Websites like Stream2Watch to watch live…

1 week ago

Best Einthusan Alternatives 2026 – Sites like Einthusan for Streaming Free Movies

Are you finding Einthusan Alternatives websites? Here are Top 9 Alternatives of Einthusan. Sites like…

1 week ago