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custody legal definition
noun
- The immediate control, guarding, or keeping of a thing for its care, inspection, preservation, or security.
- Any significant restraint or control over a personÂ’s freedom to ensure his or her presence at a hearing or trial in a criminal action.
- The restraint and control over a person who is incarcerated following that personÂ’s conviction of an offense.
child custody
The physical control over a minor awarded by a court to a
parent in a divorce or separation proceeding or in a similar action between the
unmarried parents of the child. Such control usually includes the right to have
the child live with the parent who is awarded custody, the right to determine
the upbringing of the child (including the care, discipline, education,
religion, and residence of the child), the right to make all legal decisions
concerning the child, and the duty to care for and maintain the child. See also
visitation
rights.
joint custody
An arrangement ordered by a court or agreed upon by the
divorced or separated parents of a minor by which the parents share all
authority, decisions, and responsibilities concerning the care and upbringing
of their child, although the minor still primarily resides (usually) with only
one of the parents.
sole custody
An arrangement ordered by a court or agreed upon by the
divorced or separated parents of a minor by which only one parent makes all the
decisions and has all the authority and responsibilities concerning the care
and upbringing of his or her child, to the exclusion of the other parent.
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