Shared custody: what is it and what does it consist of?
If you are in the process of divorce and have children, you should know what joint custody is and what it consists of.
Although there will always be exceptions, a separation or divorce process between two people is quite difficult to cope with and more so when there are children involved. When a couple decides to end their relationship after several years of living together, it is common for a fair or just division of their property, assets and other resources in common between them. The latter is a complicated procedure in which the involvement and good faith of both parties is essential so that, finally, there is an agreement with which they are satisfied.
However, a separation process is always magnified when it, having children involved , has to include an agreement on the custody of the children. In this aspect, there are many factors that will determine the final distribution, such as the relationship that exists between the children and each of the parents , as well as the conditions that the latter impose for their own benefit to distribute the care of the children. Joint custody is one of the legal situations that least harms children when there is a divorce or separation and then PregDream explains in more detail what it is, what it consists of and what benefits it brings to all parties involved.
Index
DEFINITION OF JOINT CUSTODY AND TYPES
Shared custody is the legal situation whereby two parents share and exercise custody of their children , as long as they do not reach the age of majority, with equal rights, conditions and duties. Thanks to this type of custody, even if two people have decided to separate their paths, they can continue to enjoy their little ones in common and share decisions regarding their education , leisure activities , food and others.
Within joint custody, there are two varieties that, although they differ between the two, continue to guarantee the equitable distribution of the time that each parent spends with their child. On the one hand, there is joint legal and physical custody, and, on the other, alternate joint custody.
The first one establishes that both parents must exercise not only joint legal but also physical custody over their child. What does this mean? That the child has to distribute his entire routine equally between both parents and that, for example, he will have two family homes instead of one. In this type of custody, all decision-making around the child is divided equally, and in the same way it will also be done with the time that both parents dedicate to it. If the equitable division of everything that concerns the minor is taken into account, this type of custody ends up generating stress and constantly interrupting the routine of all the parties involved. For the same reason, this type of joint custody is rarely applied.
Then there is also the alternate joint custody whose main difference compared to the legal and physical joint custody is that only one of the two parents exercises predominant physical custody over the other and concerning the minor. With this type of legal situation, both parents have to respond equally to decisions regarding their child, but only one of them will form the family home with the child. Even so, the father who does not have physical custody will continue to see his little one during the period that all the parties involved stipulate and this legal condition will not have to affect the relationship.of this with his son. It is important not to confuse alternate joint custody with single parent custody. In the latter, custody and the right to live with the child rests solely with one of the parents, who will also be the only one who has the capacity to decide on their rights and day-to-day issues.
HOW TO MAKE JOINT CUSTODY WORK?
When a couple breaks their relationship in a healthy way, it is most likely that both want their children together not to develop favoritism or resentment towards either of them. At the moment in which a marriage separates or divorces, children go through the whole process in a painful way because they love their parents and they also want them together in the house where they have always lived. Taking into account the sensitivity of the issue, it is important that, through joint custody, the child maintains the relationship with his parents.
One aspect that will greatly influence the little one and whether the change in his life will be drastic or not, is that both parents, once separated, live close to each other and also to the family home they built together before the separation. This agreement between the two of them who benefits the most is the son because, in this way, he will not have to make long trips to live with one or the other and he will not need to change anything in his previous life or adapt to a new city.
Finally, and although it may seem obvious, in joint custody the involvement and goodwill of the parents is very important when it comes to agreeing with each other . Whether it was a friendly breakup or not, both parts of the couple should put their differences aside to commit to making the separation easier and that the child or children in common do not suffer unnecessarily.
In order to make joint custody work, in addition to good communication between the parents, it is important that the child does not feel that his daily routine has always changed. It will be the parents’ job to organize their time and distribute it appropriately so that the consequences of the separation, beyond family members, do not negatively affect their daily habits and customs . At first, this task can be arduous and cause great stress, but if the parents make an effort and manage to establish a fair and organized distribution, the whole process will be much easier to carry out. Paying attention to the child’s school performance as well as their social relationships will help parents to detect areas for improvement.
Dr. Tabriella Perivolaris, Sara's mother and fan of fashion, beauty, motherhood, among others, about the female universe. Since 2018 she has been working as a copywriter, always bringing to her articles a little of her experience and experience as a mother and woman.