Pennsylvania custody explanation
Legal custody
When a parent has legal custody of their children, it means that they are responsible for making decisions about the important things in their lives, such as the educational instruction they receive, their religious preferences, important medical decisions, and where they go to school. When a couple is together, they generally make these decisions together, but after separation, one or both parents can continue to make these decisions.
Couples can jointly share legal custody or a parent can request sole legal custody, which would mean that the parent would make all of these decisions and keep the other parent informed. The default option is usually joint legal custody. If parents frequently fight over decision-making, one parent lives far away, or if one parent is abusive and neglectful, a court may find that it is best for one parent to have sole legal custody.
Physical custody
When you have physical custody of your children, it refers to which parent the children reside with on a day-to-day basis. If parents choose to share their children’s physical time, they can apply for “joint physical custody,” which means that each parent will have equal time with the children. Joint physical custody works in situations where the parents live close to each other, so the children can go back and forth between their parents’ home and maintain their school and recreational activities.
If you have more than fifty percent of the time in physical custody with your children, then this parent would receive primary physical custody and the other parent would receive partial physical custody. The situations in which the parents would choose this arrangement are those in which one of the parents lives further away. The partial custodial parent may request alternate visits on weekends and some evening visits on weekdays with their children.
If one parent has the children most of the time and would like to maintain this type of custody, this parent may be awarded sole custody of the children. This is generally awarded in situations where one of the parents is deemed unfit due to abuse or neglect.
Child support
When parents separate, they have an obligation to provide support on behalf of their children until the children become emancipated, that is, until the children graduate from high school or turn 18, whichever is later . Pennsylvania’s child support guidelines are based on the concept that children of separated, divorced, or never married parents should receive the same proportion of income from the parents that they would have received if the parents lived together. A custody attorney will help parents apply for child support on behalf of their children.
The court will determine the amount of support to be paid based on the custody schedule. Additionally, parents must continue to pay unreimbursed expenses in proportion to their respective salaries. An experienced child support attorney can help you through the process.