Child custody is an emotional and sometimes contentious legal process, particularly when two parents cannot work together to agree on how to meet their child’s best interests. When this happens, the courts can step in to assign custodial or conservatorship rights to both parents in a joint arrangement or to one parent in a sole custody plan. Any child custody matters that parents must work through can be discussed and planned out with the help of family law legal professionals.
When a parent receives sole custody over their child, they take on many rights and responsibilities. They are the exclusive authority over how their child will be raised and what experiences they will be allowed to engage with. For example, a parent with sole custody can decide where their child will live.
Additionally, a parent with sole custody has the power to decide where their child will be educated and if their child will participate in after-school activities. A parent with sole custody can be the sole contact person for their child at their school and attend any and all school functions that are relevant to their child.
Sole custody affords a parent the right to decide how and when their child receives medical care. This can include both basic maintenance medical visits as well as surgeries, psychological and psychiatric care, and vaccinations.
A parent with sole custody of their child may receive child support from their child’s other parent. If a parent is not granted ant form of child custody it does not necessarily mean that they have no rights with regard to their child. They may be able to secure visitation time with their child or other options for maintaining their important parent-child relationship.