Sole Child Custody

When deciding on child custody in the divorce process, courts must decide whether they will choose joint custody or sole custody for one of the parents. When a parent is granted sole custody, he or she has full physical and legal rights. This option is not as common as joint custody, since judges often try to allow both parents to have some significant input into the child's life. However, in cases where one parent is considered unfit to be a legal custodian of the child, the court will give full rights to the other parent.

How the Court Decides on Joint or Sole Custody

Child custody laws vary across the states, but there are several common factors which assist in making this important decision. Because the court wants to allow both parents some custodial rights, they usually wish to grant some arrangement of joint custody to the parents. This may even be combinations of custody, in which case one parent receives a certain type of custody (such as physical) and the other parent receives the other type (in this case, legal). Sometimes one parent is awarded sole custody of just one of the types. In that situation, that parent has full authority over that one area of the child's life.

If one parent is historically abusive, either mentally or physically, he or she may be disqualified from receiving any custodial rights of the child. Sometimes a parent is not competent mentally to provide for a child, in which case he or she would generally not receive custodial rights. In other cases, a parent's involvement in alcohol or drugs may disqualify him or her from having custodial rights.

In deciding on child custody, the court claims to always make decisions based on the best interests of the child. This claim is subjective, since there is no concrete definition for it, and laws vary across states. However, it seems generally accepted that the court tries to make decisions based on the child's needs and the ability and desire of the parents.

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