Legal Question in Family Law in California

Re: Child Custody

The difference is between legal custody and physical custody--joint legal custody allows both of you to share in child rearing decisions.

A parent with full custody can usually move away--the court may or may not force them to stay within a certain distance of the other parent. As for denying visitation, the parent can't do something contrary to the court's order--if he/she does, the court can enforce the order.

Re: Child Custody

There is no such thing as "full' custody. There are things called "sole physical custody", "joint physical custody", "sole legal custody" and "joint legal custody". The law presumes that the parent with physical custody most of the time is the parent with "primary physical custody". The law presumes that the parent with primary physical custody is the parent that takes the child in the event of a move (but only after a court order). The distiction between physical custody and joint custody is usually one of semantics only. The use of the word does not affect the rights of the parties, unless one parent is awarded "sole legal custody"--which rarely happens and only in extreme circumstances. There are numerous ways a visitation schedule may be arranged to ensure frequent and continuing contact to both parents. Feel free to contact me if you need guidance.