Anaheim
Child Custody Lawyer

With over three decades of experience practicing the law, Dorie A. Rogers has dedicated her life and her practice to helping families find solutions to difficult legal situations. She is certified as a family law specialist, which is a hard-to-obtain title granted by the State Bar of California. This designation is given to those who demonstrate extensive knowledge of the law and complete rigorous certification training. The Dorie A. Rogers is committed to helping families through even the toughest of situations.

Child custody is a legal term that’s used to describe the guardianship of a child that is granted to a parent. There are different forms of legal custody that can be granted to parents or guardians, depending on the circumstances at hand. For example, some forms of custody only allow one parent to have their children live with them, while other forms allow children to freely go between their separated parents’ homes. Regardless, any form of child custody involves the general care of a child, which means that you must meet their emotional, physical, medical, and financial needs. As a parent or guardian with custody, you are not only expected to properly provide for your child but also give them a safe space to live.

Every child custody case is extremely different from the next. Because of this, the law provides multiple forms of custody with varying guidelines to best suit each individual case. The different kinds of custody you should be familiar with include:

Physical Custody

Simply put, physical custody refers to where a child is living physically and being cared for. There are two main forms of physical custody:

• Sole Physical Custody or Primary Custody
  Sole physical custody is also commonly referred to as “primary custody.” Both of these terms are used to describe a situation where a child lives with one parent full-time. In this case, the parent is considered the child’s primary caregiver. The parent who is granted primary custody is known as the custodial parent. In many cases,when sole physical custody is awarded to one parent, the other parent is granted visitation time or visitation days with their children on a pre-determined schedule. The parent who does not have sole custody is referred to as the non-custodial parent.However, depending on the circumstances, the non-custodial parent may not be granted visitation rights, and they may not be allowed to see their children without court approval first. This can occur if a parent was found to be abusive. One of the most common examples of sole custody with visitation is when a couple divorces and a parent is granted primary custody over the children, and the non-custodial parent is given visitation rights every other weekend.
• Joint Custody
  Joint physical custody allows for children to live with both of their parents, either on a set schedule or as decided. With joint custody, parents can split time with their children how they see fit, typically giving their children the opportunity to still spend equal time with both of them. It is important to note that though custody can be shared equally, it does not always have to be. Joint custody can take on a variety of different forms, such as:
  • Children live with one parent during the school year and one parent during the summer
  • Children live with one parent during the week and the other on the weekend
  • Children switch between homes at the beginning of each month
  • Children switch between homes on a weekly basis

Legal Custody

Under California law, legal custody gives a parent the right to make important decisions on their child’s behalf. Until a child turns 18, parents with legal custody can make decisions on their child’s welfare, education, religious upbringing, and medical care. The two main forms of legal custody include:

• Joint Legal Custody
  If joint legal custody is given to parents when a divorce occurs, then they both have the right to make decisions on their children’s behalf. With joint legal custody, both parents must agree on a decision before it is finalized.
• Sole Legal Custody
  If a parent is granted sole legal custody over their children, then they are allowed to make decisions on the children’s welfare and well-being without the other parent having to agree. The court may grant sole legal custody to one parent if the other parent was abusive or removed from the child’s life.