There is a lot of misunderstanding about sole legal custody and joint legal custody. In New Mexico when you talk about legal custody all you are really talking about is who makes the the major decisions in a child’s life. Those decisions are only in five areas: religion, health care, schooling, residence and extracurricular activities. Legal custody has no bearing on how often the other side sees the child or have time with the child. Thus, in theory one parent could have sole legal custody and the other parent could see the children frequently. Alternatively, if parents have joint legal custody then one parent may only have supervised time with the child. Therefore, understand what sole legal custody means before you make it a major issue in your custody case.
For one parent to have sole legal custody means that the parent who is awarded sole legal custody is the parent who is making the major decisions for the child regarding the five areas of custody decisions. Again, in theory, one parent who has sole legal custody can decide the child’s residence. However, in practice, many judges do not approve of a parent who has sole legal custody using that to relocate to a different state. Just as this specific example can be used as an “exception” to the sole legal custody rule there are others. To learn more about how to win, keep and maintain sole legal custody contact our custody experts at info@JusticeLegalGroup.com or call us at 505-880-8737.