Columbia County, GA Child custody terms
When it comes to child custody in Columbia County, GA , there are numerous terms that can get thrown around. Usually, it can be pretty easy to misunderstand what precisely these terms mean. On the one hand, the term like “custody” has a literal meaning. When you have custody of something, it means that it is physically in your possession. But, few parents would talk about their children as being a “possession” in the way that jewelry or a car might be a possession. Custody, as connected with child custody, is a legal term, and has very specific legal meanings and underpinnings and you must be understand what a phrase like “full child custody” means.
In Columbia County, GA there are two specific areas that child custody refers to. The first concept that child custody refers to is the area of legal obligations and rights. Often except when there is a forceful reason for a court to hold otherwise, parents will share joint legal custody of their children in a divorce. Both parents have the right and responsibility to make decisions for the child in important areas such as education, instruction in religion, and health care. If parents have shared or joint legal custody, both parents will have the total authority to act on the child’s behalf in these areas. If only one parent has full legal custody, then only that parent has the right to take these decisions. But, it is only in rare cases, such as when one parent has been convicted of child abuse or endangerment, that there would be sole legal custody.
The second concept that child custody refers to is physical custody. Having full physical custody of a child indicates that the child stays with you a vast majority of the time. However it does not indicate that the non-custodial parent does not see the child, or that the child cannot reside with the non-custodial parent. It just means that the child stays with you primarily. The non-custodial parent shall still often retain joint legal custody even if you have full child custody in the physical area. In addition, the non-custodial parent may still also have specific visitation rights that you must, by law, comply with although if you have full physical child custody.
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Shawn Gunder is an Augusta GA divorce lawyer & Georgia Military Divorce Lawyer He is an Augusta military divorce lawyer, GA child custody attorney and Augusta Georgia child support attorney.
