Last Updated on: 22nd June 2025, 11:26 pm
A concerned parent who is preparing for litigation regarding child-related issues will want to learn as much as he or she can ahead of time to be able to make informed decisions and protect the best interests of his or her child. Child custody is a broad term that refers to numerous issues, some of which are quite complex and difficult to resolve, especially if the two parents involved disagree on what’s best for their children.
Understand the different types of custody
Perhaps you’re considering filing for divorce, which means you and your spouse must resolve child custody issues in order to achieve a settlement. Then again, you and your child’s other parent might never have been married but are asking the court to make decisions regarding custody of your son or daughter. The following list shows the basic types of child custody followed by a brief explanation of each:
- Physical custody
- Legal custody
- Joint custody
- Sole custody
The more you learn about each of these types of child custody, the better able you might be to protect your parental rights and determine a best course of action in a specific set of circumstances.
Physical custody refers to place of residence
If the court is making decisions about your child’s physical custody, it means that the judge overseeing your case is going to determine with which parent the child should live. Depending on the age of your child, the judge might discuss the issue with him or her to ask if he or she would prefer to live with one or the other parent.
A parent who is granted decision-making authority has legal custody
Whereas physical custody refers to your child’s place of residence, legal custody is the authority to make decisions on behalf of a child. Such decisions might include matters of education, health care, faith, relocation or other important life issues. If both parents have legal custody, they must consult with one another and achieve an agreement before decisions are made.
The court typically believes that joint custody is best
Another term for joint custody is “shared” custody. In most cases, family court judges agree that children fare best, especially after divorce, in shared custody situations. You and your co-parent can share physical and/or legal custody. If you have joint physical custody of your child, it means that he or she will alternate living between two households. Shared legal custody means that you and your ex have equal decision-making authority. It’s possible to have joint physical custody while only one parent has legal custody. It’s also possible to share legal custody while one parent has full, physical custody.
Sole custody is often granted when one parent is deemed unfit
You may believe that your children would be better off if you were to have sole custody of them. This means that you would have both physical and legal custody while your ex, perhaps, receives visitation privileges. In many cases, particularly if a noncustodial parent has been deemed a detriment to the children’s well-being, the court may restrict visits to supervised visits only or may rule that a parent is not allowed to see his or children at all. If you request sole custody of your kids on the grounds that you believe their other parent is unfit, you will be tasked with providing evidence to the court to substantiate your allegations.
Resolving child custody issues
Divorce isn’t easy, but it need not ruin children’s lives. Although many child custody issues are complex and challenging to resolve, it is often possible to come to an agreement in an amicable fashion. If you and your co-parent are both willing to cooperate and compromise for the sake of your kids, you increase the chances of achieving a fair and agreeable child custody settlement. It is just as important for unmarried parents to be willing to work as a team when attempting to resolve physical or legal custody issues.
Child support is part of child custody proceedings
The court often issues a child support order as part of custody proceedings, although not every custody case involves child support issues. Whether or not a parent should pay child support, how much such payments should be and how a parent should submit such payments is left to the discretion of the court.
Every state has its own child custody guidelines
Each state governs child custody issues according to its own guidelines, which is another reason why a parent preparing for a custody hearing will want to discuss his or her case with someone who is well-versed in this area of law. Once a court order has been issued, both parents are required to adhere to its terms unless and until the court modifies the order.
Brooklyn Joint Custody Lawyers
When you got married, you undoubtedly expected your marriage to a last a lifetime. As years passed and your family grew, you may have encountered problems in your relationship, which is not uncommon for most married couples. If you’ve decided that divorce is the most viable option and that you and your spouse should part ways, you have probably begun thinking about child custody proceedings. Filing for divorce means that you and your spouse must resolve numerous important issues regarding your children’s lives as they move forward and adapt to changes in their daily routine.
Joint custody has many benefits
As parents, you and your ex will always have a need to interact. When, where and how you do that depends on the specific details of your circumstances and what the terms of your final court order happen to be. Most family court judges agree that children fare better in divorce when given ample opportunity to maintain a close bond and active relationship with both parents. A joint custody arrangement enables them to do so. The following list shows several reasons why you may want to consider splitting custody 50/50 in your divorce:
Share parental obligations
Help maintain a scheduled routine
Easier to schedule personal time
Helps lower expenses
Such benefits can make coping with divorce less stressful for you and your children. It is especially helpful for kids to witness their parents working as a team to cooperate, look for common ground when there’s a disagreement and compromise as needed for their sake. On the contrary, if kids are constantly exposed to parental conflict, they may experienced increased levels of stress or feel confused about showing loyalty to one parent or the other after a divorce.
You don’t always have to resolve problems alone
If you are the primary custodian, most of the parental responsibility lies on your shoulders. When you and your ex share physical and legal custody, you also share the responsibility and obligations that are a natural part of parenting. When you encounter a challenging issue, you need not feel like you have to try to resolve it alone.
Children tend to do better when there’s normalcy and routine
While divorce disrupts the lives of children, studies show that when parents help kids maintain a sense of normalcy and routine after divorce, they are better able to cope with the changes in their lives. Joint custody enables you to schedule everything, including when your kids will stay in each household, who will spend holidays with them, who will drive them to school, sports practice or wherever they need to go, etc.
Scheduling time to yourself is easier
Perhaps you plan on taking college classes or pursuing a promotion at work. You might even decide that you’d like to start dating again. With a joint custody arrangement, you know exactly when your children will be staying with you, which makes scheduling time to yourself a lot less stressful.
Joint custody makes it easy to share expenses
When your are sharing custody of your children, you and your co-parent can also share expenses. You’re free to customize your post-divorce financial plan. You might decide that when the kids stay with a particular parent, that parent pays all expenses that arise during that time. You can also write out terms of agreement regarding medical expenses, extra-curricular activities and other issues. Once the court approves your plan and issues a court order, you are both obligated to adhere to its terms.
Are there reasons not to agree to joint custody?
Joint custody doesn’t work for everyone. To be successful, you and your ex must be able to work together as a team in an amicable fashion and must be willing to peacefully discuss any problems that arise to try to resolve the issue together. If you’re in a situation where you believe that your ex places your children at risk, then joint custody isn’t likely to be a course of action you’d want to pursue.
For instance, if your ex has a substance abuse problem or has been physically or emotionally abusive in the past, you may want to consider filing a petition for sole physical and legal custody of your children instead of agreeing to share custody. The court always keeps children’s best interests in mind when making custody decisions in a divorce. Child safety is always a top priority.
It’s helpful to speak with trusted friends or family members who have signed joint custody agreements in a divorce. While every family’s journey is unique, you can listen to what others have to say as to what has worked or not worked in their particular case. Building a strong support network from the start is the key to helping your children cope with divorce and adapt to a new lifestyle.
Child Custody 101: what, who, when, and how
Child custody is a complicated issue. When two parents are married, custody is automatic for both of them. Once they divorce, however, or if they were never married in the first place, custody can be confusing and one of the biggest points of contention. A custody order determines which parent has responsibility for the child’s care and how the child will be raised. Custody has two parts: legal, or the power to make decisions regarding important matters such as education, religion, and healthcare, and physical, or which parent the child lives with.
The court decides custody based on the child’s best interests. If there is no custody order, then both parents have equal rights. They both have equal physical and legal custody of their child. This can create its own set of problems.
Legal vs. Physical Custody
Legal and physical custody are decided in the same custody order, but they are not necessarily the same decision.
Legal custody is the authority to make major decisions. Physical custody, also known as residential custody, is where the child lives. Each of these can be determined to be sole custody or joint custody.
Joint custody means that both parents share equal responsibility, while sole means that only one parent has the responsibility. It is possible to have joint legal custody while also having sole physical custody, or vice versa.
Joint legal custody means the parents must agree on major decisions together, while sole legal custody means only one parent makes those same decisions. Joint physical custody means the child is living with each parent for an equal, or nearly equal, amount of time, while sole physical custody means that the child lives with one parent more than 50% of the time while having visitation with the other parent. In a sole custody situation, the parent with custody is known as the custodial parent, while the parent with visitation is known as the noncustodial parent.
Filing for custody
You don’t have to be the child’s parent to file for custody. Anyone with an important role in the child’s life can ask for custody. If someone who is not the child’s parent is asking for custody against the child’s parent, the court will consider whether there are extraordinary circumstances, such as abuse or neglect, abandonment, or the parent is in prison.
Custody cases are usually started in Family Court and should be filed in the county where the child lives. Once the petition for custody is filed, it must be served and certain requirements must be met.
Neither parent has a greater right to custody. Therefore, both mothers and fathers can initiate a petition asking for custody and have their case heard. However, parents do have superior rights to non-parents.
Factors in determining custody
There are many factors that are considered when the court is determining custody. A few of those factors includ
- History, if applicable, of domestic violence in the family
- Parents’ work schedules
- The child’s wishes, dependent on child’s age
- Parental ability to cooperate with each other
- Each parent’s mental and physical health
- Both parents’ ability to care for the child
Modifications of custody
Custody is never permanent. A final order is only final until it’s changed. A temporary custody order can be put in place during a divorce or until a final determination is made. After a final custody order has been issued, it can be changed if it’s not working or if circumstances change.
Visitation
If joint physical custody is not granted, one parent gets visitation. Visitation can take many forms. It can be weekend or weekday parenting time, division of holidays, school breaks, and summer vacation.
In certain situations, such as ones in which the child was neglected or abused by the noncustodial parent, there may be supervised visitation.
Why hire a lawyer?
Child custody is a complicated situation. The factors that are used to determine custody, the evidence a parent must provide to prove why their request is in the best interest of the child, and simply navigating the paperwork and the process itself can feel overwhelming to someone who isn’t familiar with it. The laws can be confusing, and legal terminology can make things feel even more confounding.
A lawyer can break things down into layman’s terms and help you understand the legal terminology. They can help you fill out the paperwork properly and ensure that you follow all the legal requirements for how to file and what to do after you’ve filed. A qualified child custody attorney can help you understand how best to present your case, what evidence you need as well as what evidence you shouldn’t use, and after the initial custody battle, help you with modifications or enforcement.
If you are facing a contentious child custody dispute, you need to get the most experienced and skilled lawyers you can find on your side. In the state of New York, the Family Court system is a complex and often difficult process to navigate. And child custody law is a unique area that requires specialization and a high degree of knowledge.
Many parents make the mistake of assuming that Family Court proceedings are not something worth taking seriously. Such attitudes often prove to have disastrous consequences, as Family Court rulings are considered to be almost absolute. In New York State, Family Court rulings, especially those pertaining to child custody cases, are almost never overturned by appeals courts. And these rulings often have lasting effects, with Family Court orders lasting until affected children reach the age of majority, which is 18 in New York.
All of this means that it is absolutely imperative that you find the right lawyer to help you through your child custody hearing. With solid legal representation, you can shift the odds in your favor and maximize the chances of a resolution that will be satisfactory to you. Without good counsel, there is little chance that you will prevail.
In New York State, there are two kinds of custody. Both matter
Throughout the state of New York, as well as many other jurisdictions across the country, there are two recognized categories of custody. The first is referred to as physical custody, sometimes called residential custody. This form of custody is simply used to describe the parent with whom the child will be primarily residing. Once a separation takes place, which has happened in the vast majority of cases that come before the Family Courts, one parent will be granted sole physical custody and the other will not enjoy this legal right.
But this is not terribly important. The parent who does not have sole physical custody will almost always enjoy the right to visitation. This right to visitation can include the child living with the non-custodial parent for a large number of days each week or month. Still, the parent who continues living in the family domicile where the child has been living will likely be favored to get physical custody. But there are no hard and fast rules. If you are intent on retaining or newly acquiring physical custody of a child, the best move you can possibly make is to hire an experienced attorney.
The second type of custody is referred to as legal custody. Legal custody involves the ability of a parent to have final say in major life decisions affecting the child.
These include but are not limited to matters of religion, education and healthcare. A parent can be granted sole or joint legal custody, but even if a parent has been denied legal custody, they will still often have recourse to potentially veto decisions that they believe are not consistent with the child’s best interest. This is usually done through the Family Court, which can issue injunctions if a child is being subjected to decisions by one parent that are deemed to be potentially harmful.
While the court has the discretion to grant joint legal custody, because of the absolute power of one parent to veto any decision the other parent takes with regards to the child’s circumstances, joint legal custody is typically only granted in non-contentious proceedings. This is because parents that don’t get along will usually cause deadlock on nearly every major decision taken on behalf of the child. For this reason, in contentious divorce and custody hearings, one parent will usually be granted sole legal custody with the court overseeing the process.
