These decisions may include education, health care, religious training, extracurricular activities, and dating. If parents have joint custody, the parents together make major decisions about the child and the child spends time with each parent. Joint legal custody means both parents share equally in the decision making regarding the child. Joint physical custody refers to the amount of time the child spends with each parent. Supporters of joint physical custody believe it strengthens the child's relationship with each parent.
Critics fear that such an arrangement is too unstable and requires the child to be very flexible.
Some consider it child time-sharing. Factors a judge may consider include the amount of care that the parent gave to the child before the divorce, a parent's history of abuse, a parent's current sexual relationships, and sometimes who the child prefers to live with. In almost all states, a court should not assume that custody should be given to a mother. Mothers and fathers have equal rights to custody. A custody decision can be changed to meet the needs of the child.