One of the most common questions parents ask when they become separated is, “Who gets custody of the child?” Custody refers to who has legal responsibility for the care and supervision of a child. In a divorce or separation situation involving children, it is usually one parent who does not have custody or visitation rights with the child. The parent with custody is called the custodial parent, and they make decisions on their child's behalf and supervise their activities. It is essential to understand that custody cannot be given or taken away during a divorce; it must be determined at the end of the divorce process. Primary custody typically refers to parents who are married to each other, cohabiting, in a civil union together, living together under the same roof, or have some other type than merely two people who want to raise children together. It means that one parent will make decisions on behalf of their child and another parent will have limited right to contact or have limited access to their child. However, if one wants full custody, he/she can file for it.
Types of Custody
The two types of custody are primary and secondary care. Primary care is when both parents are responsible for the care and supervision of the child. Secondary care is when one parent has full legal responsibility for their child and other parent has limited rights. If one of the parents wants full custody, they will file for it.
Joint Custody
In a joint custody situation, both parents have equal rights with the child. Most of the time, this type of custody is given to parents who are married and/or living together. When one parent has primary custody, they will still have visitation rights and usually the non-custodial parent will not be allowed in the home without permission.
Sole Custody
This is when a parent has legal custody of the child. That parent will make decisions on behalf of their child, supervise their activities and decide what school they go to. Joint custody means that both parents have legal and physical custody of the child. They will share decision making, co-parent with each other and make decisions in regards to schooling, healthcare and religion. Joint custody can also be achieved by having one parent who has sole custody and one parent who has visitation rights with their children.
Split Custody
If the parents cannot agree on how they want to divide custody, then the court can decide. The parent with primary custody is known as the custodial parent and the other parent will be given visitation rights with their child.
Possession and Access
The most important thing is to find out what the law says in your state regarding custody and visitation. It is also important to understand that when parents split up, often times neither parent will be able to see their child on a daily basis. This means that both parents need to work out an arrangement of visitation with their ex-spouse, where they may or may not have access to the child. There are many different ways in which this can be accomplished. It may be possible for one parent to have “primary” and “secondary” visitation rights with the child, whereby the other parent only has access with the child under specified circumstances or at specified times.
Primary Physical custody and Secondary Physical custody
A parent with primary physical custody has decision-making power and physical custody of the child. This means that the parent has to be involved in the day-to-day care of the child. The other parent may only have secondary physical custody which means that he/she will have a limited amount of visitation and restricted decision making power. If you are seeking to go for primary physical custody, you must show that your rights as a parent are being infringed upon by the other parent. If you are seeking to go for secondary physical custody, you must show that your rights as a parent are being infringed on by the other parent or any third party. This process can be difficult but it is important to know what your rights and responsibilities are when changing from one person having primary Physical Custody to another person having that privilege.
Special Needs custody and Tertiary physical custody
The parent with custody can also file for special needs custody if they feel their child has some type of disability. This means that the custodial parent would have to provide appropriate care and supervision for the child, while still allowing the non-custodial parent to maintain a reasonable visitation schedule. If a non-custodial parent wants full physical custody, he/she can file for tertiary physical custody. This is typically done when one of the parents abuses or neglects their child or when the other parent is absent from home and no longer providing proper care for their children. It does not matter which parent has primary custody; both parents can apply for this type of custody as long as there are grounds to move forward with it.
Final Words
The best and most important factor in deciding who will have custody of a child is the best interests of the child. If you can show that you can provide a more stable home environment, provide better opportunities for their education, and be able to plan ahead better than your ex-spouse, then you will be in a stronger position to get primary custody. Custody is a difficult issue to decide on, but it is also one of the most important decisions you need to make before moving forward with your divorce proceedings. Primary custody refers to parents who are married and cohabiting, living together under the same roof or have some other type than merely two people who want to raise children together.
The post How to get Primary Custody in Florida first appeared on Daniels Law, P.A..