Legal custody rights, which can be divided between parents during a divorce, address how those parents should make future decisions for their child.
While they are married, parents have the authority to jointly make decisions on the child’s behalf. After a divorce, legal custody determines who has the right to do so moving forward. This is independent of physical custody rights, which address where the child lives.
Often, parents get joint legal custody, meaning they still have to work together. But it is also possible for one parent to be given sole legal custody, even if they share physical custody, meaning that they can make independent decisions that they believe are in the child’s best interests.
3 key areas
Legal custody can apply to almost any decision that has to be made, but three areas that it often addresses are education, healthcare and religion. Parents get to decide what doctor their child will see, what religion they will be brought up in or what school they will be enrolled in when they are old enough.
Though shared legal custody is common, it can also lead to disputes. Parents may prefer two different schools, for example, but neither one has the legal authority to enroll the child on their own. They have to come to a compromise or reach a solution together, and that can often be difficult to do if they have very different opinions or perspectives.
When these disputes arise, it is critical that divorced parents understand exactly what legal rights they have and what steps they can take to put their child’s best interests first.
