What is the difference between legal and physical custody?

Legal custody refers to a parent’s right to make decisions for their child regarding major issues like education, health care, religion, and other important aspects of the child’s upbringing. Physical custody, on the other hand, simply refers to the parent with whom the child will primarily live and who has day-to-day responsibility for the child. This could be one parent or both parents depending on the arrangements. In Illinois, both legal and physical custody are governed by the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. Under this act, the court may grant joint custody, joint legal custody, joint physical custody, or sole custody. The court will determine the type of custody based on the best interests of the child. Joint legal custody or joint physical custody means that the parent’s share responsibility for making major decisions for their child such as education, health care, and religion. Joint custody allows each parent to have a say in the decisions about the child’s life. In contrast, sole custody, which can be either physical or legal, means that only one parent has the responsibility for making decisions for the child. This parent is also known as the custodial parent. The non-custodial parent may still be granted visitation rights. In summary, the main difference between legal and physical custody is that legal custody is the right to make decisions for the child and physical custody is the actual physical residence of the child. In Illinois, the court will determine the type of custody based on what is in the best interests of the child.

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What is the difference between legal and physical custody?

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