What are the types of custody?

If only one parent is granted custody, that usually entails both physical custody and legal custody. Physical custody refers to the right to live and provide a home for a child; legal custody refers to the right to make decisions concerning the child’s care, health, religion, upbringing, etc. Courts may award a parent sole physical custody but not sole legal custody, and vice versa.

Parents can also be awarded joint custody, whereby both parents share legal and physical custody equally. Joint legal custody means both parents have equal rights in the decisions involving children while joint physical custody means both parents have equal contact with the children. Split custody, on the other hand, refers to an arrangement whereby one parent has sole custody of one child while another parent has sole custody of another child; split custody is infrequently granted.