Muscogee County, Georgia Child custody terms

Muscogee County, Georgia Child custody terms

In child custody in Muscogee County, Georgia , there are many terms that can get thrown around. Often, it can be very easy to misinterpret what exactly these terms mean. On the one hand, the term like “custody” has a literal meaning. When you have custody of something, it means that it is physically in your possession. However, 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 associated with child custody, is a legal term, which has very specific legal meanings and underpinnings that you have to be know what a phrase like “full child custody” means.

In Muscogee County, Georgia 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 unless there is a forceful reason for a court to hold otherwise, parents will share joint legal custody of the children in a divorce. Both parents have the right and obligation to make 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 shall have the complete authority to act on the child’s behalf in these areas. If only one parent has complete legal custody, then only that parent has the right to make such decisions. But, it is only in exceptional cases, such as if one parent has been convicted of child abuse or endangerment, that there might be sole legal custody.

The second concept that child custody refers to is physical custody. Having full physical custody of a child indicates that the child lives with you a vast majority of the time. However it does not indicate that the non-custodial parent cannot see the child, or that the child cannot stay with the non-custodial parent. It merely indicates that the child resides with you primarily. The non-custodial parent will still usually retain joint legal custody even if you retain full child custody in the physical area. Besides, the non-custodial parent may still also have specific visitation rights that you must, by law, comply with even if you have full physical child custody.