What To Know About Custody and Parenting Time

Separating or divorcing parents need to decide on the custody of their children and parenting time (also known as ‘visitation’). The parents need to decide where their children are going to stay, how much time they are going to spend with each parent and how they will be cared for.

In order to decide the things mentioned above, the parents need to come up with a parenting plan. If the parents are able to decide on a plan on their own it is better for everyone. If not, the parents can always seek the help of a court.

The State of California allows parents to either have joint custody or any one parent to have sole custody of their child. There are different kinds of child custody and visitation orders.

The different types of custody orders are –

• Legal custody – It decides which parent takes important decisions regarding the education, welfare and healthcare of the child.
• Physical custody – It decides who the child is going to live with.

Sometimes, when a child ends up spending more time with one parent, the parent is called the ‘primary custodial parent’. Parents can be given joint legal custody but not joint physical custody.

The parent who does not get to spend much time with the child gets visitation rights. The different types of visitation rights or parenting time are given below.

• Scheduled visitation – Visitation according to a schedule helps prevent conflicts and confusion between the parents. It is a detailed parenting plan with dates and times of when the child will spend time with each parent. It includes vacations, holidays and special occasions.
• Supervised visitation – It usually needs to be done when the safety and security of the child with the parent is a concern. An adult or a professional agency supervises such a visitation. It is also done when the child and the parent are not familiar with each other.
• Reasonable visitation – These visitation orders are open ended. The parents work out the visitation schedules and rights between them. The rules and regulations are all flexible.
• No visitation – When it is best that the parent does not come anywhere near the child, the parent does not get any visitation rights whatsoever.

Getting divorced in California can be complicated.  Download our free eBook, 18 Important Things to Know About California Divorce to educate yourself on the process.  

Gerald A. Maggio is an experienced Orange County divorce and family law lawyer and family law attorney located in Irvine, California, serving the Orange County and Riverside areas. Mr. Maggio assists clients with legal issues including divorce, legal separation, divorce mediation, child custody, prenuptial agreements, stepparent adoptions, and other family law issues. Mr. Maggio has practiced law in California since 1999, and founded The Maggio Law Firm in 2005, focusing exclusively on divorce and family law matters.