Family division is never an easy task, especially if you have minor children. In this case, you need to know about the different types of custody.
To understand your child custody options, you need to know the difference between physical and legal custody.
Physical custody options
If your children live with you for even part of the time, you have physical custody of them. If they live with you most of the time, you have residential custody.
Physical custody comes in two main forms: sole and joint physical custody. If your child lives with you permanently at your home, you have sole physical custody. However, your former spouse may receive visitation rights. This visitation could even include sleepovers or weekends and holidays away.
Joint physical custody occurs when your children live an equal amount of time with you and your former spouse. The time may not be completely equal, but the children have dual residences.
A new form of joint custody, bird’s nest custody, allows your children to stay in one location, such as the family home, while you and your spouse rotate in and out for equal periods of time.
Legal custody options
You have legal custody if you make major decisions in your children’s lives, such as medical decisions, what religion they observe and what school they attend. Legal custody comes in two forms: sole and joint. Sole legal custody occurs when you or your spouse have full control over the major decisions in your children’s lives, while joint legal custody requires that you come to agreements about these decisions.
To get the best custody arrangement, you and your former spouse need to set aside your differences and work toward a solution that is best for your children.
