However, the concepts are basically the same from state to state. At the outset, it is important for you to decide whether to pursue joint legal custody with your wife. While the concept of two parents having an equal voice in all child-rearing decisions has some intuitive appeal, in practice it has some serious difficulties because nature of divorce is unfriendly. Any exceptions you may know serve to prove the rule. Often, one party is left feeling betrayed and exploited, while the other party moves on to a better deal.
Many divorces involve bitter battles about the division of property and assets.
The bitterness and strife present at the conclusion of a divorce does not evaporate like an ugly spill. More often than not, it corrodes further the relationship as lifestyles change and parties again begin to date. This is the milieu from which is to emerge, theoretically, a cooperative and productive co-parenting arrangement. In practice, joint legal would mean that the parents can agree on schools, extracurricular activities, health care providers, health care, place of worship, other religious matters, etc. As you might expect, many judges and lawyers, hard-bitten by experience, view the concept of joint legal custody skeptically.