In a divorce or child custody case it is important to know what specifically you want and what you are asking the Court to give you. Often times, clients will call the office and say that they want “Custody” of their child (or children). However, after exploring the reasons behind the request and asking for more details it is discovered that the client does not actually want “Custody” they want the child to spend a majority of their time with that parent, this is timesharing.
Custody in the simplest form is decision making. The ability to make the major decisions involving a child: educational decisions, medical decisions, and religious decisions. In Kentucky there are two different types of Custody: Sole Custody and Joint Custody. Sole Custody means one parents makes all the decisions. Joint Custody means the parties work together to share the decision making.
Visitation in Kentucky is often referred to as timesharing. This is how much time a child spend with either parent. In Kentucky, there are state wide model timesharing guidelines however, most counties have adopted their own set of county specific timesharing guidelines, which can be used by the Court as a framework for timesharing in any case.
Before meeting with your attorney it is best to have an
understanding of the differences in custody and timesharing.