When a couple divorce and there are children, custody is looked at in two ways; legal and physical. It is not the least bit unusual for legal and physical child custody in Idaho to be set up differently, parents may have joint legal custody for example but due to great physical separation one parent or the other may have full physical custody.
Legal custody: When a parent is granted legal custody of the child or children it means that they have the responsibility for making the important decisions in their life. The choice of school, the religious instruction they get, their medical care they get and any academic tutoring the need are all important decisions that are made by the custodial parent.
Because both parents shared in bringing up the children and important decisions were normally made jointly, the judge will want to keep it that way if at all possible. The preference is to grant joint legal custody so that both parents are still involved in the decisions which have an important impact on the child and the child’s future.
There are times when the judge will order joint legal custody but designate one parent or the other to be a tie-breaker in case of a disagreement that cannot be settled. In this case it is tantamount to ordering sole legal custody but it does encourage both parents to take an active role in the upbringing of the children.
Physical custody: Physical child custody in Idaho refers to where the children live normally. This custody can be granted to both parents and the children live with each parent for an agreed upon period during the year. The way in which physical custody is originally granted can actually have an impact on the future as in some states the custodial parent has the right to relocate with the children; to prevent this, the non-custodial parent will have to address the court and show that the move is not beneficial for the children.
Judges look to awarding joint physical custody, in this way the children are guaranteed regular contact with both parents. In most cases a 50/50 split isn’t exactly what happens, there are cases when the parents do not live near enough to one another to ensure that the kids can easily move from one to the other, maintaining their activities and lifestyle regardless of which home they are in.
