Common Child Custody Arrangements in Alpharetta

Every family is different and, as such, every family has unique needs and priorities. When determining custody, it is essential to find an arrangement that meets your family’s needs. There are several common child custody agreements in Alpharetta that can work to reflect your family’s needs.

A dedicated team of custody attorneys can work to understand your situation and help you reach an arrangement that works for your family and promises your children the brightest future possible.

What Are the Different Forms of Child Custody?

In Alpharetta, the available forms of child custody include legal and physical custody. This determines where the child lives and who makes decisions about them. However, different terms are used to describe various ways to divide physical and legal custody between parents.

Joint Custody

One scenario is known as joint custody. This refers to a situation where the parents share custody. Most of the time, parents have joint legal custody, meaning that they are both equally involved in making decisions, have equal access to records, go to parent-teacher conferences, and talk to doctors.

Joint physical custody is also a common arrangement where the child spends the same amount of time with each parent, or it could involve a custody schedule where one parent has primary physical custody, and the other has secondary physical custody. Essentially, as long as both parents are involved, it is considered joint custody.

Sole Custody

Sole custody, which is not a common arrangement in Alpharetta, is when one parent is the only one with physical and legal custody. That means that the other parent is not able to access information about the child and is generally not able to be involved in decisions regarding the child.

Bird’s Nest Custody

Bird’s nest custody is highly unusual, but it is a physical custody situation where the children always stay in the same home, and the parents move in and out of the house. It is extremely rare for this to work, especially long-term. It is often a temporary situation.

Split Custody

Another type of child-sharing arrangement is split custody. This is when there are a group of siblings, and they are not all in the physical custody of the same parent. For example, one sibling may live primarily with the father and the other with the mother. In this situation, the siblings are not residing in the same household together.

Third-Party Custody

There is also third-party custody, which is when neither parent has custody of the children. In this situation, a grandparent or non-relative may have custody. Typically this occurs when neither parent is an appropriate custodian. In that case, the court could look at third-parties.

The Most Common Child-Sharing Arrangements in Alpharetta

The most common custody agreement in Alpharetta is an arrangement with the children residing primarily with the mother, but having visiting time with the father. Many agreements have the children living with the mother 60 percent of the time and the father 40 percent of the time.

Many families also enter into joint physical custody arrangements where the children divide their time equally with both parents. In scenarios where there are two involved parents who are both capable of parenting, the custody arrangement that allows the child to spend a lot of time with both parents is very popular in our area.

What do Childcare Experts Recommend?

Childcare experts recommend certain forms of custody over others. The newer research is strongly supporting liberal amounts of parenting time for both parents. There are many studies showing that kids do better in terms of grades, emotional development, and social development when they spend at least 35 percent of their time with both parents.

There are always exceptions, but in general, even in high conflict co-parenting situations, the kids do best when they are able to be with both parents equally. An attorney can help find a custody arrangement that promotes the best outcome for a specific family.

Learn More about Common Custody Arrangements in Alpharetta

When making decisions about your children, it is important to consider your family’s unique needs. That is why there are so many different child custody arrangements available to families in Alpharetta. For help determining which arrangement is right for you, reach out to our team today.