Custody is a general term that bestows upon a person the responsibility of the child’s health, welfare, maintenance, and protection of such child. Custody, on the other hand, entrusts a person with the legal right and duty to care for a child. These responsibilities and obligations may emanate from an agreement between the parents of the child or by means of a Court order whereby both parents may be granted ‘joint custody’ of the child, or one parent may sole ‘custody’. These decisions are generally taken either by both parents through mediation or if such agreement is not reached then the Court determines such by decree always having the best interest of the child.
There is a distinction between legal custody and physical custody.
Legal Custody
Legal custody refers to the legal authority to take major decisions on behalf of the child. Examples of such decisions would for example include, determining the type of education the child is to be granted, which religion is the child to be exposed to and all non-emergency medical decisions.
Legal custody may be granted to a parent/guardian having either Sole Legal Custody: whereby such parent/guardian has sole legal custody is the only person who has the legal authority to take such major decisions in the life of the child and on behalf of the child; or to both parents having Joint Legal Custody: whereby both parents have the legal authority to take all major decisions on behalf of the child together.

Physical Custody refers to the responsibility of the parent/guardian with whom the child is residing with on a regular basis. This is sometimes also referred to as ‘residential custody’. This type of custody may be further subdivided into:

a) Sole physical custody: whereby the child’s physical residence on a regular basis is to be in a specific location. In most cases, the non-custodial parent is awarded regular visitation rights and may also include sleepovers on specific days which may be extended during holiday periods.
b) Joint Physical Custody: This form of child custody is also called ‘’shared custody’’, whereby the child is allocated to regularly reside in one parent for a specific period and then reside with the other parent during the remaining period.
In the majority of cases, where such decisions are taken by the presiding judge, usually one parent is granted physical custody whilst the other parent is granted the right of access. The parent having access rights would only have the right to see the child in the time, place, and days stipulated either by the Court or as agreed by the parents concerned and approved by the judge. Such decision will be taken on the premise of what is in the best interest of the child.