The college provides day care for his three children. The initial court decree gave custody to his former wife, but later Mr. Merwin went to court to gain full custody, and his wife did not contest the action. In increasing numbers of disputes courts are awarding joint legal custody. In most cases, the children live with one parent. In California, joint legal custody is established in about 80 percent of all divorces involving children.
Some experts say joint legal custody is more symbolic than practical.
In reality, the parent who lives with the children is making the decisions. In far fewer cases, the physical custody is divided as well. Fred Dean, for example, has his daughter for a stretch of 10 days. His wife takes her for the next 10 days. But it sometimes gets very confusing for her.