Understanding Non-Custodial Parent Rights
Are you in the middle of a custody battle and you’re not sure what your rights are as the non-custodial parent? My name is Carl Birkhead. I’m an attorney with Wirth Law Office in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I want to help you make law easy by talking a little bit about what it looks like in a custody situation when you’re a non-custodial parent.
Types of Custody Explained
So there are two different types of custody, and I’ve talked about this a little bit before, but I’ll give a brief recap here. There’s physical custody and legal custody. Physical custody means who has physical possession of the child for the majority of the time. Legal custody comes down to decision-making authority.
You can have a joint custody plan with your co-parent, and it’d be something where you have joint legal custody, but they might be the primary physical custodian. In these situations, you still have the same decision-making rights as the custodial parent when it comes to the major parenting decisions that go on in your child’s life.
Decision-Making in Joint Custody
When I say major parenting, I’m talking about education, religious education, extracurricular activities, major medical, major dental, and things like that. Those are the things that you would have to jointly make those decisions with your co-parents. Those don’t come into play for the day-to-day things when to brush teeth, how long to put the child in timeout, and things like that.
Those decision-making rights or however you want to call it, those calls, are your calls as the non-custodial parent during your visitation time, whether or not you have joint custody or whether or not the other side has sole custody. As far as that goes, your rights as the non-custodial parent are to enjoy your time with the child whenever you have your visitation time and make sure that you’re parenting the child as best as you can during that visitation time.
Your Role in Sole Custody Situations
Even if you’re in a situation where you don’t have joint legal custody and it’s a sole custody situation, the other side still has to talk with you about those major things, education, medical, things like that. They may not have to consider your opinion, but they do still have to at least have a conversation with you about them. You’re still their parent. You still get to have a voice.
If you have any questions about this or if you think that maybe this is something that you need a little bit of help with, please don’t hesitate to give us a call. You can reach me at Wirth Law Office. My name is Carl Birkhead and I’m here to help you make law easy. Thank you.
Schedule a Low-Cost Initial Strategy Session
If you need personalized advice or guidance, consider scheduling an initial strategy session with an experienced child custody attorney. We offer low-cost consultations to help you understand your rights and plan the best course of action for your custody situation. Call us today at 918-879-1681 to set up your appointment and take the first step toward securing your parental rights.
