The Basics Of Child Custody In California
California, like many other states, has a set of laws detailing the child custody rules.
In California, the California Family Code says that the court can make any order that "seems necessary or proper" (Sec.
3022) concerning a child that is still a minor during a divorce proceeding or afterwards.
The court, when it makes decisions, is guided by several basic statutory principles.
First of all, the court is supposed to keep the child's safety welfare in mind as their primary concern.
The key purpose of the court is to assure the child's health, safety, and welfare.
This policy is a companion to the California legislature finding that child abuse and domestic violence are detrimental to children.
The court is also supposed to attempt to ensure that the child has frequent and continuing contact with both parents.
This policy is OK to abandon, however, when seeing one parent would be detrimental to the child's safety and welfare.
When assigning custody, the court has several options concerning the type of custody.
There are three main types of custody arrangements, all with subsets; Sole Custody Orders, Joint Custody Orders, and Nonparent Custody Orders.
Sole custody orders can be exclusive, legal, or physical.
Exclusive orders give custody to one parent.
That one parent is given primary physical control of the child as well as the right and responsibility of making legal decisions regarding the child's residence, health, education, and welfare.
The visitation rights of the noncustodial parent are secondary and are ordered by the court.
Sole physical custody gives one parent the exclusive physical custody of the child without the legal portion.
The child resides with and is supervised by one parent but that parent is not given sole decision-making power regarding other matters that affect the child.
Sole legal custody gives one parent the exclusive right and responsibility of making decisions relating to a child's health, welfare, and education; however, that parent doesn't have sole physical custody of the child.
Joint custody orders can be purely joint, joint legal, or joint physical.
Pure joint custody orders give neither parent sole physical or legal custody.
Both parents are given the authority to control and to supervise their child.
In addition, the physical presence of the child is shared.
Joint legal custody gives both parents the right and responsibility to make decisions regarding the child's health, education, and welfare.
One parent is generally given primary physical custody of the child.
Joint physical custody gives each parent "significant periods" of physical custody.
Despite the name, the child's time might not be divided equally with each parent.
Nonparent custody orders are not given lightly.
Custody of the child is given to a nonparent who is then given exclusive responsibility for the child's care and control.
The parents, at best, will have reasonable rights to visitation.
In California, the California Family Code says that the court can make any order that "seems necessary or proper" (Sec.
3022) concerning a child that is still a minor during a divorce proceeding or afterwards.
The court, when it makes decisions, is guided by several basic statutory principles.
First of all, the court is supposed to keep the child's safety welfare in mind as their primary concern.
The key purpose of the court is to assure the child's health, safety, and welfare.
This policy is a companion to the California legislature finding that child abuse and domestic violence are detrimental to children.
The court is also supposed to attempt to ensure that the child has frequent and continuing contact with both parents.
This policy is OK to abandon, however, when seeing one parent would be detrimental to the child's safety and welfare.
When assigning custody, the court has several options concerning the type of custody.
There are three main types of custody arrangements, all with subsets; Sole Custody Orders, Joint Custody Orders, and Nonparent Custody Orders.
Sole custody orders can be exclusive, legal, or physical.
Exclusive orders give custody to one parent.
That one parent is given primary physical control of the child as well as the right and responsibility of making legal decisions regarding the child's residence, health, education, and welfare.
The visitation rights of the noncustodial parent are secondary and are ordered by the court.
Sole physical custody gives one parent the exclusive physical custody of the child without the legal portion.
The child resides with and is supervised by one parent but that parent is not given sole decision-making power regarding other matters that affect the child.
Sole legal custody gives one parent the exclusive right and responsibility of making decisions relating to a child's health, welfare, and education; however, that parent doesn't have sole physical custody of the child.
Joint custody orders can be purely joint, joint legal, or joint physical.
Pure joint custody orders give neither parent sole physical or legal custody.
Both parents are given the authority to control and to supervise their child.
In addition, the physical presence of the child is shared.
Joint legal custody gives both parents the right and responsibility to make decisions regarding the child's health, education, and welfare.
One parent is generally given primary physical custody of the child.
Joint physical custody gives each parent "significant periods" of physical custody.
Despite the name, the child's time might not be divided equally with each parent.
Nonparent custody orders are not given lightly.
Custody of the child is given to a nonparent who is then given exclusive responsibility for the child's care and control.
The parents, at best, will have reasonable rights to visitation.
