Full Custody in Arizona = Parenting Time and Legal Decision Making
Dear Fellow Followers,
Today’s discussion will explore and shed light on the meaning of the words, “full custody.” I imagine that just about every person at some point in time has heard or perhaps decreed this very phrase in the heat of an argument. But what does “custody” mean? Well, I’m glad you asked, let’s briefly dig a bit deeper together.
TODAY’S INTERPRETATION
Some people believe the phrase “full custody” means one parent is the head honcho and usually it is the mother. The rationale behind this thought is that no judge in their right mind would tear a child away from their mother. Well my friends this is wrong, because judges will and do separate children from their birth mothers and birth fathers alike if it is in the best interest of the child. Actually, in Arizona, “custody” refers to both legal-decision making and parenting time.
WHAT THE COURT DECIDES
When it comes to the best interest of the child the Family Court routinely use two distinctive categories: 1) Legal-decision making is when a parent has the ability makes decisions like, what school the child will attend and major medical decisions and 2) Parenting Time is the literal hours that the child spends with a parent during a regular week, holidays, birthdays, etc.
So, the next time you either hear that famous phrase or say it, you should smile to yourself afterward because now, after reading this blog, you have a little more insight into what the process entails. Stay tuned to future articles defining family law concepts for great folks like yourself. A little bit of advice though…hire a good family lawyer.
