No more custody in Arizona by Shannon Trezza
Effective January 1, 2013, Custody as we know it will bear a new title. That’s right finally custody will be labeled by its definition.
SOLE LEGAL DECISION MAKING VS. JOINT LEGAL DECISION MAKING. The definition for who has custody of a child has long been a power struggle for parents and confusing for legal document preparers, attorneys and judges. Custody really has always been defined as who is awarded the ability to make legal decisions on behalf of the child. Legal decisions include but are not limited to religious decisions, medical decisions, educational decisions etc. and was often confused with the issue of parenting time. Sole legal decision making awards one parent the ability to make legal decisions and Joint Legal Decision Making awards both parents the ability to make legal decisions for a child after consideration of the child’s best interests.
PARENTING TIME AND VISITATION is also getting a definitions face lift for clarity and this has been a long time coming. The correct terminology now is PARENTING TIME which is defined as the time spent with a parent. Time spent with a child by a non-parent is defined by the wordVISITATION.