Custody

Custody is the legal responsibility for the care and control of your child. Under Virginia law, this means that you have a legal responsibility towards your child until s/he turns 18 years of age.¹ Both parents may share this responsibility. By default, when the parents of a minor child are living together, they are joint “natural guardians” with equal legal powers.² If they do not live together, custody can be divided up between the parents, which is called joint custody, or given to only one parent, which is called sole custody.³ 

If the parents are not married, the father may need to first establish his paternity in order to ask for custody.⁴ For more information on paternity, see How is paternity is established?

If you and the other parent cannot agree on an arrangement, a judge can decide what would be in the best interest of your child. The judge will also decide who should have legal custody and who should have physical custody of your child. Legal custody is the right to make major decisions about your child’s well-being, including matters of education, medical care, and religious development. Physical custody is the right to decide where the child will live on a day-to-day basis.³ The judge should not automatically favor any particular form of custody when making this decision.⁵ 

The judge may also award visitation if one parent is given sole physical custody. For more information on that, see What is visitation?

¹ Va. Code § 1-204
² Va. Code § 64.2-1700
³ Va. Code § 20-124.1
⁴ Va. Code § 20-49.1
⁵ Va. Code §§ 20-124.2(B); 20-124.3