Types of Custody in Bucks County

There are two types of custody in Bucks County to be discussed: physical and legal.  Both types are handled through your Bucks County divorce lawyers and the Domestic Relations Office in Bucks County.  If no agreement is made,  custody hearings are held before a Bucks County judge.  Physical custody refers to which person a child under the age of 18 lives with. The living arrangement can be either part or full time.

Sole physical custody means one parent has complete full time physical custody.  Shared physical custody means both parents have the child at different times at each parent’s home.  However, there are instances where parents live in the same house where the child lives but at different times. In some situations the court can mandate  supervised physical custody whereby a children’s agency or some other responsible adult monitors the visits of a parent and child together. 

Primary and Legal Custody

Primary physical custody means one parent has the child residing with him or her the majority of the time while partial physical custody refers to the parent who has the child for less than the majority of time.  The term visitation means that a parent can only visit a child and cannot take the child from the custodial parent.    

Legal custody refers to the right to make major decisions (such as medical or educational or religious training) concerning the child.  Legal custody can be sole or shared just as in physical custody. Most often parents share legal custody unless there are some obvious reasons that show one parent is unfit to make decisions in the best interest of the child.