What is the difference between physical and legal custody?

Physical custody and legal custody refer to different aspects of parental responsibility for a child. Physical custody refers to the parent who is primarily responsible for providing the day to day care and supervision for the child and who usually has the child living with them. Legal custody refers to the right and responsibility of parents to make major decisions about their child’s life such as medical care, education, and religion. In North Carolina, when a court decides a custody dispute involving a minor child, they have the authority to award either joint or sole custody rights to the parents of the child. Joint custody entails equal decision-making power and joint responsibility to adhere to decisions made for the child. Sole custody is when one parent has the right and responsibility to make major decisions about the child while the other has no legal authority in these matters, but still might be given visitation rights and an allocated amount of time with the child. In a joint physical custody arrangement, the court will decide the primary residence of the child. The court may decide that the child will live primarily with one parent, but will also establish a visitation schedule to ensure that the non-custodial parent will also spend time with the child. Sole physical custody occurs when the court awards physical custody of the child to one parent, and visitation rights to the other parent. In short, physical custody is the parent who is primarily responsible for the day to day care and supervision of the child, whereas legal custody is the right and responsibility of parents to make major decisions concerning their child’s care such as education, religion, and medical care.

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What is the difference between physical and legal custody?

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