An Empirical Study of Custody Agreements: Joint versus Sole Legal Custody

Abstract

The public records of 500 divorces involving minor children were abstracted from the files of a county probate and family court. The families’ demographics and the chronology of the marriages and their dissolution are reported, as are the varieties and frequencies of the custody and visitation decisions. The provisions made for the children's current and future physical, financial, and educational needs are summarized together with the incidences of post-divorce litigation.

Does a nonresident parent have the right to make decisions for his nonmarital children?: Trends in legal custody among paternity cases

“…Joint legal custody is more likely among parents who file for divorce rapidly upon separation or who file under a no-fault provision (Arditti, 1992;Koel et al, 1988;Phear et al, 1983), and more likely in mediation rather than an adversarial process (Pearson, 1991). Conversely, in one study that observes quality of the parental relationship, frequent disagreement is positively associated with the likelihood of joint legal custody (Seltzer, 1998), perhaps because both parents are trying to ensure their perspectives on child-rearing is considered.…”

“…For example, after couples separated and before a custodial decision was made, fathers who were later awarded joint legal custody spent more overnights with their children (Albiston et al, 1990). This theoretical reasoning may explain the empirical finding that joint legal custody is more common among parents who have been married (and thus have been living with their children) for a long time (Arditti, 1992;Huang et al, 2003;Koel et al, 1988;Phear et al, 1983). However, the evidence is mixed.…”

“…In contrast, the prevalence of father custody remained stagnant in one study that uses regional data (Maccoby et al, 1988); this is similar to the national proportion of cases with father sole custody, around 12% between the 1980s and 1990s (Huang et al, 2003 particularly the nonresident parent's education, represent the human capital that could allow better decision making for the child. Therefore, empirical studies generally support the positive associations between income, education or age, and joint legal custody, either in univariate comparisons or multivariate regressions (Arditti, 1992;Huang et al, 2003;Koel et al, 1988;Phear, Beck, Hauser, Clark, & Whitney, 1983;Seltzer, 1990Seltzer, , 1991Seltzer, , 1998. Given the same family income, joint legal custody is theoretically affected by the parent's relative income (measured by each parent's income divided by the couple's total income).…”

Joint Custody: Research, Theory, and Policy

“…In at least some cases, the content of joint legal custody arrangements is essentially the same as that found in those made under sole custody awards. While joint legal custody has become relatively common (30% of all custody awards in one study), joint physical custody is quite rare, constituting under 2% of all awards (24).…”

“…A firm belief that the other parent was both competent and important to the child reappears consistently as does the need and ability to be flexible (1, 2, 20, 31, 37). Other variables frequently associated with successful coparenting under joint legal custody include geographic proximity (1, 37), relatively high compliance with child‐support awards (14, 22), and a relatively low level of relitigation (3, 11, 19, 22), though one study by Phear and colleagues (24) found no significant relationship between joint versus sole custody on this variable.…”