How is custody defined and interpreted?
Custody is divided into the categories of sole, or joint. Sole (full) custody confers all rights and responsibilities of child rearing to that parent; the other parent legally has no standing. Joint custody (unlike “sole”) implies some form of sharing. Legal custody is the right of parents to make decisions for the child concerning things like schooling, medical care, religious upbringing, etc. Legal custody can be sole, or joint, but is mostly joint, in practice. It is probably the easiest form of joint custody to obtain (especially for fathers) because it doesn’t carry much weight with the courts when there is a dispute. Physical custody describes the living (day-to-day) arrangements, and can also be sole or joint independent of the legal custody. This arrangement can take many shapes, but is usually measured in visitation hours per week, or alternating weekends, or whatever. As there are 168 hours in a week (7 * 24), whatever percentage you have of those hours will allow you that am
