What is the difference between visitation and joint custody?

It is common for people to use the terms “visitation” and “custody” interchangeably. However, the two do not have the same meaning. Knowing what they mean may not be of interest to you until you are planning a divorce.

During a divorce, you have to choose what to split with your partner. While it may not be easy to split up the property, it is even harder when you have to divide the children’s time between the mom and dad.

The first step towards winning a custody battle is to hire the best child custody attorneys Los Angeles. As a dad, there are several child custody lawyers for fathers that you can consult. They know how to navigate the law and ensure that you gain the advantage.

If you are a newly single mother, you want to consider visiting child custody lawyers for single mothers as they will know the best steps to take.

A very tempting approach is to fight for sole physical custody of your kids because you believe that you deserve it. More so, you may hate that your ex hurt you and your family, and therefore, you may want to get back at them.

However, your consideration is not what is essential as you explore the various types of child custody and visitation. It is what is best for your kids that matter.

Understanding the Different Types of Custody
To fully understand the meaning of child custody, you need to grasp it from a legal point of view. There is more than one type of child custody. You can choose to either fight for either legal or physical custody. Sometimes one parent can hold both.

But what do they all mean?
When you have legal custody, you have the right to make any important decision in the life of your child. Such choices include determining the school they will attend, medical decisions, and even choosing their type of religious upbringing.
You can fight to be the sole legal custodian of your children and make all decisions on your own, or you can get into joint legal custody with your partner and share the right to make the major decisions. While joint legal custody grants you the power to share the legal authority to make crucial decisions for your children, it does not necessitate you staying together with your partner.
Physical custody, on the other hand, refers to the right to have your child live with you. Depending on the circumstance, child custody attorneys can help you get awarded various types of physical custody. Such include:

• Joint physical custody: In this case, you will only get to stay with your children for a specific time. Your partner as we get to spend an equal amount of time with the kids.
• Sole Physical Custody: When you are awarded this type of custody, you get the right to stay with your children. However, your partner may receive the right to visit and spend time with your children occasionally.
• Birds Nest Custody: Here, your children get to reside in one central property. Both you and your partner may have to choose when to spend time with the kids and rotate accordingly. For example, you may want to spend time with the kids from Monday through to Thursday and leave the rest of the days to your spouse. The main disadvantage of this approach is that it can become costly to maintain the residence. However, it helps to ease the transitions for the children.

Visitation
If you do not get custody over your children, you may be awarded child visitation rights. However, they fall under a specific schedule, date, and location if a court order backs them. Sometimes, parents may settle on an informal visitation agreement not supported by the court, which offers the separated parents more flexibility.

Depending on the situation, you may share the legal custody of your children with your spouse and still have child visitation rights.

In some cases, the court may mandate supervised appointments when the child’s safety is at stake. It means another adult has to be present during the visit. The court may appoint a social worker to supervise the interaction or all allow the non-custodial parent to select someone to monitor. It may be a family friend or a grandparent.
It would be best if you stuck to the custody and visitation arrangement that have been made by the court. Failure to concede to the court’s demands may result in severe consequences.

If you are not happy with the custody arrangements in place, you can choose to change them. Child custody attorneys Los Angeles can help you find the best way to go about the modification. Regardless of whether you choose to visit child custody lawyers for single mothers or child custody lawyers for fathers, you need to ensure that they have enough experience to help you get the result you want. Call our family law attorney Los Angeles today