Sam Bernstein of ArborYpsi Law Outlines the Intricacies of Legal Custody

  ANN ARBOR, MI - 02/01/2018 (PRESS RELEASE JET)

What is Legal Custody?

In a family case where children are involved, the parties need to determine legal custody.

There are two types of custody, legal custody and physical custody.

Physical custody determines the parent’s home where the child will spend most of his or her time. Legal custody is a broad term relating to decision-making abilities of parents.

Legal Custody Defined

Legal custody is the ability to make major decisions in the child’s life. Areas of decision-making include;

• Medical decisions
• Education
• Religion 

Let’s say a divorced couple must make a major decision for the child, such as which school the child will attend. This means both parents must work together and agree on the school district. This is not always easy for divorced couples. It means working together after the couple has decided they really can’t be together. Nevertheless, people figure it out. 

If there really is an issue that cannot be agreed upon, the couple will have to go to court where a judge will make the final decision. 

In General

In general, both parents will have legal custody. Both parents often want to be involved in the major decisions of a child’s life. Even where one parent is living further away from a child and cannot be involved in the day-to-day, that parent will often want a say in the child’s life.

It is fair to say that a child will benefit from having two active and concerned parents in the child’s life. 

There of course may be times where one parent is not fit to exercise legal custody. Perhaps the parent has some serious issues to work on before legal custody is appropriate. 

Author Bio

Sam Bernstein of ArborYpsi Law is family law attorney in Washtenaw County, Michigan. Sam Bernstein can be reached at 734.883.9584 or by e-mail at bernstein@arborypsilaw.com. ArborYpsi Law is located at 4158 Washtenaw Ave, Ann Arbor, MI 48108.