Primarily Its What School’s the Child Going to Attend
Video Transcribed:
What are the six things a child’s legal custodian must decide? My name is James Wirth and I am a Family law attorney in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and we’re talking about legal custodians and the decisions that they must decide as to the custodial parent.
In Oklahoma, when we talk about custody, we’re talking about legal custody. That’s the authority to make the big decisions. If it’s a sole custody case, then that sole custodian makes those decisions. If it’s joint custody, then both parents have to work together to mutually make decisions together.
But what are those six things that are legal, big decisions that must be decided? Well, it’s primarily what school’s the child going to attend. That’s the first one. The second one is summer camps, church camps, things like that. Those are the typical big decisions that must be made. The third one, it’s discipline. How’s the child going to be disciplined? Is corporal punishment going to be used or not used? What forms are there going to be? How is that going to be done?
That’s a big legal decision for the custodian to make. The fourth thing is going to be religious instruction. What church is the child going to intend and be a member of? That’s a legal decision to be decided by the legal custodian. Fifth thing, medical procedures, dental, orthodontic, any kind of elective medical that’s decided by the legal custodian. Lastly, a big decision must be made by the legal custodian is going to be extracurricular activities, sports that the child is going to be a part of. Those things have to be decided.
Now, this is not an exhaustive list. Those are the six main ones that we typically see in joint child custody plans. But actually, that is something that can be decided by the parties when a decree is entered, is what terms they are saying that they both need to decide on if it’s joint custody or that the sole custodian decides if it’s a sole custody plan. That could be part of the decree of joint child custody to plan, to define what are the big decision-making things that must be made by the legal custodian.
Then everything else is going to be a minor decision. If it’s, what is the child going to eat, what the child’s going to wear, Normally those are small decisions that are made by whoever has physical custody or visitation at that time.
But for the big things, the legal decision, those are the six main ones. There could be more or less, depending on what’s in your specific order, what’s ordered by the judge, or what you guys agreed upon in the decree or joint child custody plan. How does this factor into your circumstances?
That depends. You’re going to want to consult with an attorney about those specifics confidentially. If you want, go to makelaweasy.com to speak with an Oklahoma Family Law Attorney.
