Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia

Re: child custody

If the parents have joint legal custody, and one parent has primary physical custody, the noncustodial parent who has joint legal custody does have the right to have input concering the child's health decisions. If the noncustodial parent merely has visitation then medical decisions would be made by the custodial parent.

Re: child custody

I would think that it could well depend upon the nature of the visit to the doctor, i,.e., if it were something that was of at least some urgency that required a doctor's attention, the answer must, obviously, be yes.

However, if that were not the case and there was no urgency for such a visit, taking the child to the doctor without the consent of the custodial parent

would not be appropriate unless that parent shared joint legal custody of the child with the custodial parent.