Sole custody

Family law
Family
Marriage and other unions and status
Validity of marriages
Dissolution of marriages
Children's issues
Private international law
Family and criminal code
(or criminal law)

Sole custody is a child custody arrangement whereby only one parent has custody of a child. In the most common use of the term, sole custody refers to a context in which one parent has sole physical custody of a child.[1]

Types of custody

Depending upon the jurisdiction, custody may be divided into two components, legal custody and physical custody.[2] Physical custody relates to the child's legal domicile and where the child resides.[3] Legal custody involves the parents' participation in important life decisions pertaining to the child, such as significant medical decisions or where the child attends school.[4] It is not uncommon for a parent with sole physical custody to share legal custody with the other parent, but it is uncommon for parents to share physical custody while one parent has sole legal custody.[5]

History and prevalence

Historically, sole custody was the most common form of child custody granted after divorce.[3] Since the 1980s, joint physical custody with shared parenting have become much more common, and in some jurisdictions there is a legislative preference or presumption in favor of joint legal custody, joint physical custody or both. Research indicates that children fare better in joint custody arrangements, or custody arrangements that allow a child to have good access to both parents.[6][7]

Although women are granted sole custody more often than men, it is a popular misconception common in the men's rights movement that this is due to systemic bias; in reality it is because men infrequently contest or seek it.[8]

See also


References

  1. ^ Taussig, John G.; Carpenter, John T. (1980). "Joint Custody". North Dakota Law Review. 56: 224.
  2. ^ Abiston, Catherine R.; Maccoby, Eleanor E.; Mnookin, Robert R (1990). "Does Joint Legal Custody Matter". Stanford Law and Policy Review. 2: 167.
  3. ^ a b Young, Alison H. (1994). "Joint Custody as Norm: Solomon Revisited". Osgoode Hall Law Journal. 32 (4): 785–816. doi:10.60082/2817-5069.1663.
  4. ^ See, e.g., "Basics of Custody & Visitation Orders". California Courts. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  5. ^ See, e.g., "Georgia Code Title 19. Domestic Relations § 19-9-6". Findlaw. Thomson Reuters. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  6. ^ Baude, Amandine; Pearson, Jessica; Drapeau, Sylvie (27 June 2016). "Child Adjustment in Joint Physical Custody Versus Sole Custody: A Meta-Analytic Review". Journal of Divorce & Remarriage. 57 (5): 338–360. doi:10.1080/10502556.2016.1185203. S2CID 147782279.
  7. ^ Linda Nielsen (2018). "Joint Versus Sole Physical Custody: Children's Outcomes Independent of Parent–Child Relationships, Income, and Conflict in 60 Studies". Journal of Divorce & Remarriage. 59 (4). Journal of Divorce and Remarriage: 247–281. doi:10.1080/10502556.2018.1454204. S2CID 149954035.
  8. ^ O'Donnell J (2022). "Men's Rights Activism and the Manosphere". Gamergate and Anti-Feminism in the Digital Age. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 9–61. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-14057-0_2. ISBN 978-3-031-14056-3.


Stub icon

This parenting article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Stub icon

This law-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.