Going through a divorce when people have children often means that parents will work out a child custody arrangement. This allows parents to organize their time around when they have their children.
Child custody determines physical and legal custody rights. Physical custody relates to providing children with their daily needs, such as food, shelter and clothing. Legal custody is all about decision-making authority. For example, a parent with legal custody could put their child in private school instead of public school or have them take daily medication for a medical condition.
Parents have a few child custody arrangement options, including:
Joint custody and parallel parenting
Joint custody typically means forming a co-parenting relationship. This gives both parents some right to spend time with their children and decide what is best for them together. Co-parenting often means parents will spend a lot of time working and communicating together to raise their children after a divorce.
If a divorce was caused by communication issues, parents could opt for a parallel parenting plan. The parallel option means parents have more autonomy when raising their children and less communication with each other.
Sole custody and visitation
A parent may not be fit or want to raise their child. The other parent could gain sole custody. Sole custody means one person is entirely responsible for the upbringing of their child. The other parent may have some right to visit their child on scheduled days and hours.
Legal help is available when going through a divorce. Parents should learn more about what rights they have.