In a previous blog, I discussed the concept of joint legal custody. In this blog I will focus on the problems associated with joint legal custody. I am a child custody and family law divorce attorney in San Diego.
The ability to work together as co-parents and to make decisions for your child is an important part of Joint Legal Custody. Problems may exist when an important decision needs to be made, but the parents are indecisive about the outcome. When this occurs I tell my family law clients to discuss the pros and cons of each outcome and then try to reach a single agreed upon decision.
Another problem exists when parents are not indecisive, but rather each have their own point of view and will not give way to focus on the other parent’s perspective. When this occurs, the only option that remains is for the judge to make a decision regarding the issue. This not only takes away the power from the parents, but points to a bigger problem, which is the uncertainty of the outcome for a future decision that needs to be made.
Should the parents continue to be unable to discuss issues in the child’s life, a judge may be needed for each decision that needs to be made. One way to avoid the need of the court to be overly involved in the child’s life is to ask the court to grant one parent the decision-making ability as it relates to their child. What this means is both parents could still be able to consult with professionals working with their child, but only one of them would be allowed to make the final decision as it relates to the legal Custody issues. Of course, it is important that the parent who makes the decisions informs the other parents of these decisions.
I hope this has clarified the concept of Joint Legal Custody.
