Rules to Make Joint Child Custody Work

It is the court system’s opinion that joint custody is a preferred solution for raising a child or children when the family separates. It is only under certain circumstances that a parent receives sole custody of the child. Joint custody is about both physical and legal custody. Under the law, a parent can have joint custody of one or both of these custody types.

 

What Is Legal Custody?

 

Legal custody is related to all of the important issues regarding the child. This could include having equal input into where the choice of religion, the child attends school, medical care decisions, and similar important choices. Your OKC child custody lawyer can explain legal custody in depth during one of your consultations.

 

What Is Physical Custody?

 

Physical custody is where the child lives and sleeps at night. One parent can have sole physical custody while having joint legal custody of the child. Physical custody does not mean that the child does not visit or interact with the other parent; it only concerns where the child has a full-time residence.

 

Making Joint Custody Work

 

If you have joint custody of your child, it can be a little difficult to make everything work out. Each parent may have a different opinion about important issues concerning the child. To help make joint custody work better, parents are encouraged:

 

• * The child’s best interest should always be the goal of your decisions.
• * If you disagree about an issue, keep your discussions private, don’t let the child or children think they are the cause of your disagreement.
• * Give and take. Everyone cannot get their way all the time. If you both agree to make some concessions with your decisions, the entire process will work easier for all concerned.
• * If you cannot resolve the problems you are encountering, contact an OKC child custody lawyer.

 

Raising a child is always a challenging task. It is even more of a challenge when the parents do not agree with anything concerning the child. To make everything better for all involved, parents are encouraged to compromise on major decisions concerning legal custody issues.