Joint custody

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Joint custody is a form of child custody pursuant to which custody rights are awarded to both parents. Joint custody may refer to joint physical custody , joint legal custody, or both combined.

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In joint legal custody, both parents of a child share major decision making regarding for example education, medical care and religious upbringing. In joint physical custody, also called shared parenting or shared residency , the child spends equal or close to equal amount of time with both parents.

After a divorce or separation, parents may have joint physical custody as well as joint legal custody of their children, or commonly, they may have joint legal custody while one parent has sole physical custody, or rarely, they may have joint physical custody while one parent have sole legal custody. [1] [2]

The opposite of joint physical custody is sole custody , where the child primarily lives with one parent while the other parent may have visitation rights to regularly see his or her child. Joint physical custody is different from split custody , where some siblings live with one parent while other siblings live with the other parent.

History

In England, prior to the 19th century, common law considered children to be the property of their father. [3] [4] However, the economic and social changes that occurred during the 19th century led to a shift in ideas about the dynamics of the family. [3] Industrialization separated the home and the workplace, keeping fathers away from their children in order to earn wages and provide for their family. [3] Conversely, mothers were expected to stay in the home and care for the household and the children. [3] Important social changes such as women's suffrage and child development theories allowed for ideas surrounding the importance of maternal care. [3]

In joint legal custody, both parents share decision-making rights with regard to matters that may have a significant impact on their children's lives, such as where a child should attend school, the choice of a primary care physician or therapist for the child, and medical treatments. [5] Both parents also have the ability right access to their children's records, such as educational records, health records, and other records. [6] Under sole physical custody arrangements, joint legal custody has been found to have beneficial effects on children compared to sole legal custody. [7]

Joint physical custody

In joint physical custody, the child lives an equal amount of time with both parents or for considerable amount of time with each parent. [8] Typically, the family court issues a parenting schedule that defines the time that the child will spend with each parent. [9]

The percentage of joint physical versus sole physical custody varies between countries. In a comparative survey from 2005/06, covering children ages 11 to 15, it was highest in Sweden with 17% and lowest in Turkey and the Ukraine with only 1%. [10]

Studies suggest that joint custody may significantly contribute to a child's wellbeing, with lower rates of mental health issues and substance abuse, better school performance, better physical health and better family relationships as compared to children in households where one parent has sole physical custody. [11] On the whole, studies show that children experience better outcomes in joint custody arrangements and where they have good access to both parents. [12] While not all studies of joint custody have resulted in similar findings, none have found that harm results from joint custody. [11]

Japan

Joint custody is not legally recognized in Japan. [13] Japanese courts favor granting custody to a primary caregiver, [14] and nearly always award custody to the parent who is in possession of the children, even in the aftermath of parental kidnapping. [15] Many Japanese parents believe that recognition of joint custody rights will reduce the problem of parental kidnapping and improve parent-child relationships following a custody case. [15]

Spain

In a 2005/06 survey, about 6 percent of Spanish children ages 11 to 15 lived in a joint physical custody arrangement versus sole physical custody. [10]

Joint physical custody was introduced into Spanish law in 2005, subject to agreement by both parents. Some regions, such as Aragon and Catalonia, have subsequently passed laws that makes it the preferred option. [16]

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom in 2005/06, about 7 percent of 11-15 year old children lived in a joint physical versus sole physical custody arrangement. [10]

United States

In the United States, joint legal custody is common while joint physical custody is rare. [17] According to a 2005/06 survey, about 5 percent of American children ages 11 to 15 lived in a joint physical custody arrangement versus sole physical custody. [10] Kentucky is the only state with a legal rebuttable presumption in favor of joint physical custody. [18] [19]

Related Research Articles

Child custody, conservatorship and guardianship describe the legal and practical relationship between a parent and the parent's child, such as the right of the parent to make decisions for the child, and the parent's duty to care for the child.

Shared parenting, shared residence, joint residence, shared custody, joint physical custody, equal parenting time (EPT) is a child custody arrangement after divorce or separation, in which both parents share the responsibility of raising their child(ren), with equal or close to equal parenting time. A regime of shared parenting is based on the idea that children have the right to and benefit from a close relationship with both their parents, and that no child should be separated from a parent.

The fathers' rights movement is a social movement whose members are primarily interested in issues related to family law, including child custody and child support, that affect fathers and their children. Many of its members are fathers who desire to share the parenting of their children equally with their children's mothers—either after divorce or as unwed fathers—and the children of the terminated marriage. The movement includes men as well as women, often the second wives of divorced fathers or other family members of men who have had some engagement with family law. Many members of the movement are self-educated in family law, including child custody and support, as they believe that equally-shared parenting time was being unjustly negated by family courts.

Shared residence, joint residence, or shared parenting refers to the situation where a child of parents who have divorced or separated live with each parent at different times, such as every other week. With shared residency, both parents have parental responsibility. Shared residency does not mean that the time the child spends with each parent must be equal.

A parenting plan is a child custody plan that is negotiated by parents, and which may be included in a marital separation agreement or final decree of divorce. Especially when a separation is acrimonious to begin with, specific agreements about who will discharge these responsibilities and when and how they are to be discharged can reduce the need for litigation. Avoiding litigation spares parties not only the financial and emotional costs of litigation but the uncertainty of how favorable or unfavorable a court's after-the-fact decision will be. Moreover, the agreement itself can authorize the employment of dispute-resolution methods, such as arbitration and mediation, that may be less costly than litigation.

Joint custody is a court order whereby custody of a child is awarded to both parties. In the United States, there are two forms of joint custody, joint physical custody and joint legal custody. In joint physical custody, the lodging and care of the child is shared according to a court-ordered parenting schedule with equal or close to equal parenting time. In joint legal custody, both parents share the ability to make decisions about the child, regarding e.g. education, medical care and religion, and both can access their children's educational and health records.

Child custody is a legal term regarding guardianship which is used to describe the legal and practical relationship between a parent or guardian and a child in that person's care. Child custody consists of legal custody, which is the right to make decisions about the child, and physical custody, which is the right and duty to house, provide and care for the child. Married parents normally have joint legal and physical custody of their children. Decisions about child custody typically arise in proceedings involving divorce, annulment, separation, adoption or parental death. In most jurisdictions child custody is determined in accordance with the best interests of the child standard.

Richard A. Warshak is an American clinical and research psychologist and author. He is best known for his research and advocacy in the areas of child custody, shared parenting, and claims of parental alienation in the context of divorce. Warshak has written two books, The Custody Revolution, and Divorce Poison: Protecting the Parent-Child Bond From a Vindictive Ex, and the updated edition, Divorce Poison: How to Protect Your Family from Bad-mouthing and Brainwashing.

In family law, contact, visitation and access are synonym terms that denotes the time that a child spends with the noncustodial parent, according to an agreed or court specified parenting schedule. The visitation term is not used in a shared parenting arrangement where the mother and father have joint physical custody.

The National Parents Organization (NPO) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable and educational organization in the United States that promotes shared parenting. The organization focuses on family court reform, research, and public education with the goal to make shared parenting the general norm for separated parenting.

Co-parenting is an enterprise undertaken by parents who together take on the socialization, care, and upbringing of children for whom they share equal responsibility. The co-parent relationship differs from an intimate relationship between adults in that it focuses solely on the child. The equivalent term in evolutionary biology is bi-parental care, where parental investment is provided by both the mother and father.

The fathers' rights movement has simultaneously evolved in many countries, advocating for shared parenting after divorce or separation, and the right of children and fathers to have close and meaningful relationships. This article provides details about the fathers' rights movement in specific countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International child abduction in Japan</span>

International child abduction in Japan refers to the illegal international abduction or removal of children from their country of habitual residence by an acquaintance or family member to Japan or their retention in Japan in contravention to the law of another country. Most cases involve a Japanese parent taking his/her children to Japan in defiance of visitation or joint custody orders issued by Western courts. The issue is a growing problem as the number of international marriages increases. Parental abduction often has a particularly devastating effect on parents who may never see their children again.

A noncustodial parent is a parent who does not have physical custody of his or her minor child as the result of a court order. When the child lives with only one parent, in a sole custody arrangement, then the parent with which the child lives is the custodial parent while the other parent is the non-custodial parent. The non-custodial parent may have contact or visitation rights. In a shared parenting arrangement, where the child lives an equal or approximately equal amount of time with the mother and father, both are custodial parents and neither is a non-custodial parent.

Sole custody is a child custody arrangement whereby only one parent has custody of a child. In the most common use of the term, sole custody refers to a context in which one parent has sole physical custody of a child.

Split custody refers to a child custody arrangement in which one parent has sole custody of one or more children while the other parent has sole custody of the remaining siblings. Split custody is rare, as it is thought that it is in the best to keep siblings together for mutual comfort, stability and support. Reasons for split custody can be child preferences for different parents or siblings that do not get along with each other. It is more common for older compared to younger siblings, and then usually at the request of one of the children.

Malin Bergström is a child psychologist and scientist at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. She is a specialist in studies concerning the effect on children with different child custody arrangements after divorce or separation. Using cross-sectional and longitudinal study designs, her research group has shown that children have better physical, mental and social outcomes if they live in a shared parenting arrangement compared to primarily living with only one parent.

Linda Nielsen is a professor of adolescent and educational psychology in the Department of Education at Wake Forest University. She has conducted research on the effects of shared parenting and on father–daughter relationships.

Edward Kruk is a Canadian sociologist and social worker. He has conducted internationally recognized research on child custody, shared parenting, family mediation, divorced fathers, parental alienation, parental addiction, child protection, and grandparent access to their grandchildren. Kruk is an associate professor of social work at the University of British Columbia. He is the founding president of the International Council on Shared Parenting.

References

  1. ↑ "Joint Custody Definition". Duhaime's Law Dictionary.
  2. ↑ See, e.g., "Georgia Code Title 19. Domestic Relations § 19-9-6". Findlaw. Thomson Reuters. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Jay Folberg (23 August 1991). Joint Custody and Shared Parenting. Guilford Press. pp. 4–5. ISBN   978-0-89862-481-6 . Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  4. ↑ Margorie Louise Engel; Diana Delhi Gould (1 January 1992). Divorce Decisions Workbook: A Planning and Action Guide to the Practical Side of Divorce. McGraw-Hill Professional. pp. 107–108. ISBN   978-0-07-019571-4 . Retrieved 19 October 2011.
  5. ↑ See, e.g., "Basics of Custody & Visitation Orders". California Courts. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  6. ↑ Robert E. Emery (1999). Marriage, Divorce, and Children's Adjustment. SAGE. pp. 79–124. ISBN   978-0-7619-0252-2 . Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  7. ↑ Gunnoe ML, Braver SL. The effects of joint legal custody on mothers, fathers, and children, controlling for factors that predispose a sole maternal vs. joint legal award. Law and Human Behavior, 2001, 25:25–43.
  8. ↑ Kaplan PMBR (7 July 2009). Kaplan PMBR FINALS: Family Law: Core Concepts and Key Questions. Kaplan Publishing. pp. 22–23. ISBN   978-1-60714-098-6 . Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  9. ↑ See, e.g., Oregon State Legislature (1997). "ORS 107.102 Parenting plan" . Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Bjarnason T, Arnarsson AA. Joint Physical Custody and Communication with Parents: A Cross-National Study of Children in 36 Western Countries Archived 2017-11-19 at the Wayback Machine , Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 2011, 42:871-890.
  11. 1 2 Braver, Sanford L.; Lamb, Michael E. (10 April 2018). "Shared Parenting After Parental Separation: The Views of 12 Experts". Journal of Divorce & Remarriage. 59 (5): 372–387. doi:10.1080/10502556.2018.1454195. S2CID   149843380.
  12. ↑ Baude, Amandine; Pearson, Jessica; Drapeau, Sylvie (27 June 2016). "Child Adjustment in Joint Physical Custody Versus Sole Custody: A Meta-Analytic Review". Journal of Divorce & Remarriage. 57 (5): 338–360. doi:10.1080/10502556.2016.1185203. S2CID   147782279.
  13. ↑ "As Japan moves toward recognizing joint custody, a father nourishes hope for reunion". Japan Subculture Research Center. 8 August 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  14. ↑ Matsutani, Minoru (10 October 2009). "Custody laws force parents to extremes". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  15. 1 2 Kikuchi, Daisuke (5 May 2017). "Parental abduction victims hold rally to push for joint custody rights". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  16. ↑ Lendoiro, Gema (28 February 2015). "Todo lo que debes saber sobre la custodia compartida" [Everything you should know about joint custody] (in European Spanish). Diario ABC.
  17. ↑ Sanford L. Braver and Michael E. Lamb, Shared Parenting After Parental Separation: The Views of 12 Experts, Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, April 2018
  18. ↑ Jason Petrie, Kentucky House Bill 528, LegiScan, 2018.
  19. ↑ Shared parenting law long overdue, The Daily Independent, August 28, 2018.

See also

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