What is the Difference between Joint Custody and Sole Custody?
Determining the custody of your children is a very difficult process to go through emotionally. One question that parents ask us frequently is what the legal difference is between joint and sole custody. At Hosford & Hosford, we always stay focused on the families and offer a solution-oriented approach. If you’re looking for a San Luis Obispo child custody lawyer or if you just want to learn more about joint versus sole custody, don’t hesitate to call us right now.
The Difference between Legal and Physical Custody
Before we talk about joint and sole custody, we first have to discuss legal and physical custody.
- Physical custody – If you have physical custody of your child it means that they can stay or live at your home.
- Legal custody – When you have legal custody it means that you can make decisions about where your child goes to school, what kind of medical treatment they get, what kind of religious participation they should have, and more.
The Difference between Joint Custody and Sole Custody
Parents can share both physical and legal custody of their children which is determined by your judge.
- Joint or sole physical custody – Parents who have sole physical custody will have the children living primarily with them and the other parent will receive some sort of visitation schedule. With joint physical custody, the children will split time between the parents’ homes.
- Joint or sole legal custody – Parents usually get joint legal custody so they can make decisions together. But if the parents makes things difficult by fighting over every decision, a judge may give one of them sole legal custody.
Whether you need representation or any kind of mediation, you can find a terrific San Luis Obispo child custody lawyer here at Hosford & Hosford. We stand by our clients through their most challenging experiences so give us a call today.