What types of child custody arrangements can you find in an Alabama divorce agreement



“In an Alabama divorce agreement regarding custody of minor children, it is important to consider and distinguish between the main types of custody, legal custody and physical custody.

Difference Between Legal and Physical Child Custody

Legal custody refers to the decision-making process between the parents for the benefit of their minor children and includes decisions related to the education and healthcare of the children, as well as the children’s participation in extracurricular, religious, and athletic activities. In an Alabama divorce agreement, the parties can agree that they will share in the joint legal custody of their children where they make all decisions together, or one party can maintain the sole legal custody of the minor children and act as the primary decision-maker. It is important to note that the designation of sole or joint legal custody does not negate each parent’s responsibility to communicate with the other parent regarding all major decisions for the children.

Physical custody refers to the time in which the children are in each parent’s respective physical care, custody, and control – in other words, the parent that the children primarily live with. In an Alabama divorce agreement, the parties can agree that one parent will have the sole physical custody of the children, where the children primarily live with one parent and have visitation with the other parent, or that they will share in the joint physical custody of their children, where each parent has equal or near-equal amounts of time with the children in their physical care.”