It is natural for emotions to run High before, during and after a divorce. Particularly if there are children involved in your divorce, this may be the source of many bitter legal entanglements.
However, it remains unlikely for individuals to obtain sole custody of children, even if you have a difficult relationship with your ex-spouse. According to FindLaw, sole custody is mainly awarded in the event that one parent has a history of abuse or struggles with addiction.
What is sole custody?
Legally, the court breaks custody down into two separate categories. The first is physical custody. If you have sole physical custody of children, this means that the children live with you and are primarily under your supervision. The other parent may have visitation rights with the children. This means that the children made occasionally spend a weekend with the other parent. Depending on the situation, a third-party may need to supervise visitation.
The second variety of custody is legal custody. If you have sole legal custody of children, this means that you are the only one making decisions on behalf of those children on issues like religious upbringing, medical care and education.
Why is sole custody not common?
There is plenty of research backing up the fact that children tend to do best if both parents are equally involved in their lives, whether or not the parents live together. This means that the most common custody outcome is co-parenting. However, this is not the best outcome in all cases, so it is important to understand the basics of child custody.
