The word “custody” can send shivers down the spine of a parent contemplating divorce or separation in California. The thought of missing out on life with your child can be so devastating that it can be hard to think straight. Emotions override logic.
Unfortunately, custody issues require you to think clearly and rationally to develop the solution that is best for your child. Working with an experienced and compassionate attorney during this time can enable you to gain a thorough understanding of your rights and obligations and help you develop the arrangements that are right for your family.
As part of the process, you need to educate yourself on California custody law. Even if you will be negotiating arrangements out of court, it is important to understand how a judge would rule if the decision were to be turned over to the court. To understand child custody laws in California, it is vital to comprehend the way the state defines primary and joint custody.
Custody Refers to Both Legal and Physical Custody
One issue that complicates custody decisions is that the term custody actually refers to two different issues in California. Both physical and legal custody will be allocated between parents.
Physical custody is what most people think of when they consider custody. It involves where a child lives and spends time with. As the name implies, physical custody is associated with having your child’s physical presence with you.
Legal custody is different. It involves having authority to make decisions that affect a child’s upbringing such as:
- Where they will go to school
- What activities or sports the child will be allowed to participate in
- The religious training a child receives
- Medical decisions such as the choice of primary care physician and the types of treatments and preventative measures a child will receive
Determinations about whether a parent will have primary or joint custody need to be made both with respect to legal custody and physical custody. It will be important to work with your attorney to produce your strongest arguments to show why it is in your child’s best interests to adopt your goals for both types of custody.
The Definitions of “Primary” and “Joint” are not Rigid
Primary custody is often referred to as sole custody, and that can be misleading. As a general rule, primary custody is allocated primarily to one parent, but the other parent often retains some rights. Joint custody, by contrast, refers to a situation where both parents share custody. However, that share may not be a 50/50 split.
Primary and joint custody can almost be viewed as a sliding scale where, at some point, one parent has so much of the decision-making authority or time with the child that their share of custody is considered primary rather than joint. For example, many people consider an arrangement for physical custody to be joint or shared custody as long as each parent has at least 35% of the parenting time with the child. So in a schedule where a child stays with one parent 65% of the time and the other parent 35% of the time, the parents could be said to have joint physical custody. However, if the child spends only 30% of the time with the second parent, then the parent with 70% of the time with the child is usually said to have primary physical custody even though the difference between the two situations is not that great.
Sections 3006 and 3007 of the California Family Code do establish definitions for “sole legal custody” and “sole physical custody.” A parent with sole legal custody is responsible for making decisions regarding a child’s “health, education, and welfare,” while when a parent has sole physical custody, the child resides with and is supervised by that parent, and the other parent may be granted visitation rights.
California Encourages Both Parents to Be Involved in a Child’s Life
While courts can exclude one parent and give all the rights and responsibilities to the other parent, they need to have good reasons for doing so. In Section 3020(b) of the California Family Code, lawmakers state their intention to “ensure that children have frequent and continuing contact with both parents.”
This means that joint custody is often the goal. Even where it is clear that a parent’s work schedule or physical living situation makes it impractical for them to share physical custody, a court will often award joint legal custody to both parents. The bottom line is that whether custody is awarded jointly or primarily to one parent, the court will often allow the other parent as much opportunity as possible to be involved in a child’s life unless the other parent presents evidence to show why this would be detrimental to the child’s best interests.
Holstrom, Block & Parke, APLC Can Help You Achieve Your Goals for Custody
Understanding your rights is the first step toward obtaining the custody arrangements you want in divorce, separation, or another legal custody battle. With over 300 years of combined experience protecting parental rights, the team at Holstrom, Block & Parke, APLC is ready to help you work to achieve your objectives for physical and legal custody. Contact us today for a confidential consultation to learn more about the ways we can help.
