Madison County, GA Child custody terms

Madison County, GA Child custody terms

When it comes to child custody in Madison County, GA , there are a lot of terms that can get thrown around. Generally, it can be very easy to misinterpret what exactly those terms mean. On the one hand, a term like “custody” has a literal meaning. When you have custody of something, it means that you have physical possession of that thing. But, some parents would talk about their child 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 which you must be understand what a phrase like “full child custody” means.

In Madison County, GA there are two specific concepts that child custody refers to. The first area that child custody refers to is the area of legal responsibility and rights. Generally except when there is a forceful ground for the court to hold otherwise, parents will share joint legal custody of their children in a divorce. Both parents have the right and obligation to take decisions for the child in vital areas including 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. Where only one parent has complete legal custody, then only that parent has the right to make these decisions. However, it is only in rare circumstances, such as if one parent has been convicted of child abuse or endangerment, that there will be sole legal custody.

The next concept that child custody refers to is physical custody. Having full physical custody of a child means that the child stays with you for 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 stay with the non-custodial parent. It simply indicates that the child lives with you primarily. The non-custodial parent shall still typically 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 should, by law, comply with even if you have full physical child custody.

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