Joint custody (United States)

This article is about the US view of joint custody. For the global view of joint custody, see Joint custody and Shared parenting.
This article is about the legal term. For the American Dad! episode, see Joint Custody (American Dad!).

Family law
Family
Marriage and other unions and status
Validity of marriages
Dissolution of marriages
Children's issues
Private international law
Family and criminal code
(or criminal law)
Main articles: Child custody, Shared parenting, and Best interests

Joint custody is a court order whereby custody of a child is awarded to both parties.[1][2] In the United States, there are two forms of joint custody, joint physical custody (called also "shared parenting" or "shared custody") and joint legal custody.[2] In joint physical custody, the lodging and care of the child is shared according to a court-ordered parenting schedule with equal or close to equal parenting time.[3][4] In joint legal custody, both parents share the ability to make decisions about the child, regarding e.g. education, medical care and religion, and both can access their children's educational and health records.

It is possible for a court to make separate determinations of legal and physical custody. It is common to combine joint legal custody with sole physical custody and visitation, but the opposite is rare.[5] In joint physical custody both parents are custodial parents and neither parent is a non-custodial parent.[2][6]

Joint custody is distinct from sole custody. In sole physical custody, the child's lives primarily in the home of one parent while the children may have visitation with the other parent. In sole legal custody, one parent is assigned the exclusive right to make decisions concerning the children's important life activities, such as choice of school or doctor, and authorization of medical treatment or counseling. Joint custody is different from split custody, an arrangement in which one parent has sole custody over some of the parents' children, and the other parent has sole custody over the other children.[7]

  1. ^ See, e.g., Arizona State Legislature (2011). "25-402". Archived from the original on 20 November 2009. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  2. ^ a b c See, e.g., "Georgia Code Title 19. Domestic Relations § 19-9-6". Findlaw. Thomson Reuters. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  3. ^ See, e.g., Oregon State Legislature (1997). "ORS 107.102 Parenting plan". Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  4. ^ Kaplan PMBR (7 July 2009). Kaplan PMBR FINALS: Family Law: Core Concepts and Key Questions. Kaplan Publishing. pp. 22–23. ISBN 978-1-60714-098-6. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  5. ^ Gayle Rosenwald Smith; Sally Abrahms (3 July 2007). What Every Woman Should Know about Divorce and Custody: Judges, Lawyers, and Therapists Share Winning Strategies on How to Keep the Kids, the Cash, and Your Sanity. Penguin. pp. 46–48. ISBN 978-0-399-53349-5. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Bonding after Divorce was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Child Custody Made Simple was invoked but never defined (see the help page).