<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC '-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN' 'http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd'>; <html><head><title>Article Directory Online : Free Online Article Submission - Articleonlinedirectory | Child Custody Arrangements</title></head><body><h3>Child Custody Arrangements</h3><br /><br />By: <br /><br /><p>When a couple moves to the point of pursuing a divorce in a marriage where children are present, the most important question quickly becomes evident: Who will get custody of those children? It is often the single most contentious issue in the entire divorce proceeding. In the ideal case, the parents will be able to agree on a shared custody arrangement in which both parents share both legal and physical custody of the children. Unfortunately, this is often not the case - in which other custody arrangements must be explored. The following are some of the more common options.<br /> <br /> First, some definitions. "Legal Custody" means that a guardian has the right to make the decisions that affect the children, including areas like education, medical care, religious upbringing, as well as any legal issues. "Physical Custody" means the right to decide where the children will live, and to the responsibility of seeing to their daily needs, including full responsibility for their well-being.<br /> <br /> Sole Custody: When custody is awarded to just one parent, that parent then has total responsibility for the children's physical needs, and all decisions that have to be made in regard to the matters described previously. In other situations, sole physical custody may be awarded to one parent, but the legal custody might be shared. This type of situation can occur when the life circumstances of the non-custodial parent are not likely to be beneficial to the well-being of the children, but the parent is still capable of making good judgments about their well-being.<br /> <br /> Joint Custody: When joint custody is ruled, both parents will share custody of the children. Shared physical custody will require that the parents work out daily and weekly schedules that make it possible for the children to divide their time between the parents' locations. Usually, a fixed schedule is set up, which helps lower the stress that the children feel. This only works when both parents are in the same locality, so that the children can remain in their schools. When the parents' locations are too far apart, shared physical custody must be altered to take account of school schedules, with visits to the parent away from the school district possibly limited to weekends and summers.<br /> <br /> Joint legal custody is generally a simple matter, as there is little likelihood that legal custody can be parsed into different domains. For example, it is unlikely that a parent would be judged competent to share in legal decisions on the child behalf, but not well suited to making medical decisions for them.<br /> <br /> Bird's-Nest Custody: This is the least common form of custody arrangement, and for good reason. While it is probably the best possible arrangement for the children, it is also the one which requires the most self-sacrifice and cooperation on the part of the parents. Bird's-nest custody refers to an arrangement in which the children continue to live in the original family home, and the parents take turns living there with them. This obviously requires that each of the parents have a second place to live, when they are not staying with the children.<br /> <br /> When a divorce is amicable, the parents can both share a single second home, since they would never be staying there at the same time. If they were, the children would also have to be present. For this to work, the divorced parents must be able to cooperate on all issues involving the second home, and they must be able to do this and not find themselves continually arguing about routine problems. Since this doesn't happen in most divorces, setting up this custody arrangement would probably require each of them to have to have a separate second home. That means a lot of extra expense and inconvenience - so it is obvious why this arrangement is not often used.</p> <br /><br /><b>Author Resource:-></b> Learn more regarding the best ways to win your custody fight. Get your copies of two FREE reports regarding child custody by clicking: <a href=http://budurl.com/custody>Free Child Custody Reports</a>. Then, find more information at <a href=http://www.web-omnibus.com>web-omnibus.com</a>.<br /><br /><b>Article From</b> <a href='http://www.articleonlinedirectory.com/'>Article Directory Online : Free Online Article Submission - Articleonlinedirectory</a><br /></body></html>
