Oklahoma City, OK - When a child custody arrangement is finalized, it may have provisions that are related to both physical and legal custody. When these terms are used, legal custody generally refers to decisions about the child’s upbringing, and physical custody refers to where the child will actually stay. However, when physical and legal custody are split, there can be some confusion regarding how the arrangement will work in practice and the responsibilities of each parent. Any questions about this process should be directed to a local child custody lawyer who practices in Oklahoma.  Joint custodyJoint custody is a general term to refer to situations where both parents share child raising responsibilities and decisions about their lives. Some couples may be able to have a fairly even division of time and ability to decide how the child is raised, while there may also be situations where one parent has a majority of the custody time with the other only being given visitation rights. It is common for some kind of joint custody arrangement to be present until one parent has had serious issues with domestic violence, neglect, or abuse in the past that would call their parenting abilities into question.Physical and legal custody

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The term physical custody describes where the child is actually present and what parent has control of them. It is possible that a parent with physical custody may have little or no authority to decide important details about the child’s life due to a lack of legal custody rights. Also, it is possible that a parent is only given physical custody through visitation rights. Many times, a judge will decide that both time with a parent and legal custody with the parent who has the strongest previous relationship with their child, along with the most time invested in their upbringing would be in the best interests of the child. Related support paymentsIf a parent has limited time with their child through their physical custody rights, they may be ordered to pay child support. This is because the parent with more physical custody time will likely have to invest a significantly larger amount of their income into the child’s needs. The support payments are a way of equalizing the costs and financial responsibility of raising a child, even if one of the parents is not present most of the time. More information about child custody laws in OklahomaUSAttorneys.com is a site that lists lawyers who focus on child custody and various other areas of practice. Anyone who needs legal advice in Oklahoma City can choose their state and a practice area to get in touch with a local attorney.