CHILD CUSTODY

Child Child custody refers to the rights and relationships between the parents and their children when the marriage relationship has failed or ended. The court can order sole custody or joint custody. The most important aspect of custody, rather than deciding what legal term to use, is to decide how both parents will share responsibility for the children, and the amount of time each parent will spend with the children.

Can the custodial parent refuse to provide custody or visitation rights if child support is not being provided by the other parent?

Child support is a different issue from child custody. A parent cannot be denied access to a child merely because that parent is not paying support.  Likewise the custodial parent cannot be denied support even if that parent is not providing access to the child to the non-custodial parent.

What is sole custody and joint custody?

Sole Custody:An order of Sole Custody generally gives one parent the full legal responsibility for the child, with regard to making all decisions in the child’s life. The other parent will generally have visitation rights.

Joint Custody: The effect of a joint custody order is that both parents have equal say in the major decisions of a child’s life, such as education, major medical treatment and religion. Joint Custody does not effect the amount of support obligation that the non-custodial parent is required to pay or otherwise affect visitation. Generally, each parent has specified access rights (visitation).In some cases, the parents can also share joint legal and physical custody. However, joint custody does not necessarily mean that each parent will spend equal time with the child or children.