When parents are going through a divorce in the State College area it is often a challenging time for both the parents and their children. There are many legal issues that need to be resolved and one of the more contentious issues is child custody. Parents often have different ideas as to how child custody should be arranged, and this can lead to emotional disagreements. There are several custody options for families in Pennsylvania.
There are two types of custody in Pennsylvania, legal and physical custody. Legal custody refers to which parent gets to make key decisions on their child’s life. These include:
- Medical decisions
- Religious decisions
- Educational decisions
While physical custody refers to where the child will live.
In Pennsylvania there are options with legal and physical custody:
- Sole physical and legal custody: This is where the child resides with one parent and that parent makes all important decisions.
- Primary custody: The parent with primary custody gets the child most of the time.
- Partial custody: The parent with partial custody gets the child the minority of the time, such as weekends of every other week.
- Shared custody: The parents each get significant time with the child.
- Shared legal custody Both parents work together to make important decisions about their child.
- A legal professional who is skilled in Pennsylvania family law can help their client understand their child custody options. They can work to make sure a child custody agreement is created that is in the best interest of the child and their parent and help answer any questions that may come up.
