When immersed in a co-parenting situation while raising your child, there can be many topics that may come up for discussion. When custody is determined it’s wise to figure out not only the legal ramifications of the custody arrangement, but the duties, responsibilities and expectations of each parent when raising the child from separate households. Sometimes the terms joint custody and shared custody are used in place of each other.

However, they aren’t exactly the same thing. Joint custody is characterized by a child custody situation in which both parents split parenting time equally. Shared parenting is when both parents split parenting time equally. This means that they both make decisions in terms of the child and do their best to split their time with their child fairly.

Essentially, joint custody is an exact 50/50 science of parenting decisions and shared parenting is a more collective approach to co-parenting, although they both accomplish similar goals with similar means. Shared parenting decisions can encompass parenting time, financial responsibilities, medical decisions, religious upbringing, and other important issues that affect the child.

It’s not always easy to get to a point with your child’s parent in which shared custody decisions become easy to communicate and decide. However, with good intentions and a little practice, parents can come together to effectively parent from separate households. It’s a goal to strive for in your co-parenting relationship. This is if it’s in the best interests of the child. Anyone dealing custody situations can benefit from the guidance of an experience attorney.