4.3 LEGAL CUSTODY
4.301 In General.
Determining who will make major decisions for a child can be as significant an obstacle to settlement discussion as the custodial schedule. Even a parent who might not want significant physical custodial time with the child might want to play a significant role in the child's upbringing. Parents might also have different priorities and areas of expertise, and might each believe they should have the final word with regard to those particular aspects of child rearing. To that end, it is important to address how to make major decisions regarding a child's life and development.
4.302 Sole Legal Custody.
In a sole legal custody arrangement, one parent is exclusively responsible for making all major decisions regarding a child. While that parent may consider the advice and input from the other, it is the parent with sole legal custody who decides how much weight to ascribe the other parent's contributions. Sole custody is extremely rare in agreements as well as in court rulings. At least twenty states have a presumption of some form of joint or shared legal custody or joint or shared physical custody. There is a trend in the courts and in state legislatures toward joint legal and joint physical custody and parenting time. 692
4.303 Joint Legal Custody with Physical Custody to One Parent.
When one parent has primary physical custody, joint legal custody may appear to elevate form over substance, but it actually addresses an important parental right. This form of custody preserves the right of the other parent to be consulted on major issues and decisions in the child's life. 693 Furthermore, it was treated as having substantial legal significance in the relocation dispute in Cloutier v. Queen. 694
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