SPARC Forums

Can anybody tell me exactly what this is?  Thank you.

I believe that primary is usually the childs "primary" residence and the parent with the majority of placement time.

Primary custody is typically translated as something akin to "sole physical custody".  It may be a label that has no legal meaning in some states, but is given to a parent who wants sole custody but the other parent wants joint.

So it may be used in the context of "the parents have joint custody and the mother is the primary custodian/caretaker."

You need to ask an attorney IN YOUR STATE to understand the legal implications of that term, however.

It's very very very important, when custody is assigned, to fully understand what it means.

Allowing the other parent to have "primary" or "sole" custody will usually mean that whenever there is a disagreement on anything of substance, the other parent will usually prevail.