Joint Custody Rights
Joint custody is when both the parents have equal rights to make important decisions in their child's life. The article sheds light on joint custody rights and other related parameters.
In sole custody rights, only one parent (usually mother) has the physical and legal custody of a child while the other parent has only visitation rights. In joint custody rights, both the parents, though not living together, share the rights and responsibilities of raising and caring for the child. Though each type of custody has its own pros and cons, according to some research the joint custody can be a better option for a child than the sole custody. This was just a brief insight on child custody, let us try to understand more about joint legal custody rights.
Joint Custody
As said before, joint custody is an arrangement wherein both the parents after divorce or separation mutually, share the decision-making responsibilities for any kind of physical control and custody of their child. Or in simple words joint custody means that both parents have equal rights to make decisions regarding the child's education, health care, daily care, emergency care, extracurricular activities, religion and other issues affecting the child's health and growth. This custody is granted by a family court in the benefit of the child's best interests wherein both the parents are fit for parenting responsibilities.
Joint custody or shared custody is divided into three categories which include joint legal, shared physical and combination. In joint legal custody rights, parents share responsibilities regarding the upbringing of the child, but the child has only one main residence. In shared physical joint custody, the child has two residences and is granted to spend at least 35% of his/her time with each parent. Finally, there is combination joint custody which is a special joint custody agreement, having some of both shared physical and joint legal custody rights. For example, an arrangement wherein there is one residence for the child and the parents live with their child by taking turns or on a rotation basis. Hence, both the parents have to work out their schedules as per their work requirements, residence arrangements and their child's requirements. Usually shared custody arrangements include switching months, years, or six-months periods or living weekends/holidays with one parent and weekdays with the other. Learn more on joint custody of children.
Advantages of Joint Custody
Joint custody rights offer several distinct advantages for both the parents and the child. Unlike sole custody, where, in most cases the child custody is given to the mother, in shared or joint custody separated fathers get an opportunity to be more involved with their children, by spending time with them on a regular, extended basis. Besides this, fathers joint custody rights also benefit by not putting the entire burden of parenting the child on one parent and creating equity between both parents. Also joint custody offers more security to the child, as in this case the child has two homes and can have a real family life with both parents.
Disadvantages of Joint Custody
The major drawback of shared or joint custody is that one has to live fairly close to his/her ex-partner for reasons like school, extra curricular activities, etc. resulting in social problems between the parents. Also, if any one parent has to move elsewhere for work or some other reasons, due to lack of contact some emotional problems can develop in the child. Hence, to avoid such situations both parents have to be open enough to some amount of flexibility in their joint custody plan.
Read more on: Research shows that, in joint custody rights, the child develops better relationship with both the parents despite the animosity between them. However, if there are constant disagreements/fights or verbal/physical abuse regarding the child's welfare decisions, the court can strike down the agreement.
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