Legal Question in Family Law in California
What are typical custody orders when the child is one year old? Is it common for parents to be granted joint custody when both are in stable living situations?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Joint legal and joint physical are generally the "go to" provisions, with deviation from that only on a showing of cause. What custody/visitation schedule would be established for the joint physical custody depends on too many variables to make any generalizations. However most courts are aware of the current views of child psychologists that pre-school children need frequent contact with both parents to foster the best bonding and relationships possible, and young children who have frequent contact (every few days) with both parents do better socially and academically in elementary school. Very young children who do not see a parent for more than a couple of days commonly show separation anxiety issues fairly quickly. Courts take that into account.