For parents, some of the hardest questions that come with divorce have nothing to do with property or money. Where will the children live? How much time will they spend with each parent? Who will make important decisions about their education, health care and upbringing?
Georgia custody arrangements address these questions through legal and physical custody. While the terms can sound confusing at first, understanding the basics can make it easier to know what to expect as you begin making plans for your children.
What are legal and physical custody?
Legal custody involves the authority to make important decisions about a child’s life. Those decisions may involve education, medical care, religious upbringing and extracurricular activities. Physical custody, on the other hand, deals primarily with where the child lives and how parenting time decisions made?
Parents can often work together to develop a parenting plan. If they can’t agree, however, a Georgia court can decide custody based on the best interests of the child. That can mean awarding primary physical custody of the child to one parent while the other gets visitation, or awarding one parent full legal custody over one or more situations.
There isn’t one custody arrangement that’s right for every family. A workable parenting plan should account for the child’s needs as well as practical issues such as school, work schedules, transportation and each parent’s ability to care for the child.
Legal guidance can help parents understand their custody options and work toward an arrangement that protects their relationship with their children while keeping the children’s needs at the center of the process.