Child custody is a serious case and both the parents suffer emotional and psychological pain with this process. There are various legalities involved in such cases and parents have to go through all the legalities. Child custody involves meeting with both parents and sometimes couples do not want to keep any relationship between them. Therefore, they prefer to have sole custody.
Sole custody is not possible in many cases as there are some conditions for sole custody. In this article, we will discuss about what are important circumstances of a parent getting sole custody.
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Why do Courts Prefer Joint Custody?
Joint custody is generally preferable because it ensures that the child gets emotional support from both parents. It is in the best interests of the child to involve both the parents in their life. The child can live with both parents and therefore, it is considered one of the best options for child custody cases.
What is Sole Custody?
Sole custody is when child custody is awarded to only one parent. The legal and physical right of the child is given to one parent. This means that one parent will have the right to make all decisions about the child’s life, schooling, medical care and other extracurricular activities. The other parent can have visitation rights but not more than that and they will not have any decision-making rights in the child’s life.
What are the Circumstances of Sole Custody?
- One Parent has a History of Being Abusive: If there are instances in the history that the parent was abusive then it would not be safe for the child to grow up in an abusive environment. There would be a risk of domestic violence and therefore, in such cases, the child custody is given to the other parent.
- One Parent Has the Substance of Abuse Issues: The court always wants to keep the child in a safe environment and therefore, if one parent is having the abuse issues, it is more likely that the court will give sole custody to the other parent.
- One Parent Has a Mental Health Issue: In cases where one parent is dealing with unmanageable mental health issues, courts will refrain from providing custody to that parent. Mental health issues are important to identify mainly in child custody issues and the court ensures that no child should live in such an environment where the parent is unable to take care of the child.
One Parent Has Alienated the Child: If there are cases in which one parent has alienated the child from the other parent, then the court will consider this while making the judgement.
