North Carolina courts use the “best interest of the child” standard when making a determination in child custody cases. After hearing evidence, the judge (not a jury) will decide how the parents, will make major decisions affecting the childrens’ lives and will establish an appropriate residential schedule for the children. “Joint custody” describes a joint decision-making arrangement whereby both parents make major decisions for the children. Typically, one parent will be designated as having primary physical custody with the other parent having secondary physical custody. A typical residential schedule for a parent having secondary physical custody provides that he or she will have the children on alternate weekends, one-half of the school holidays, and several weeks in the summer. It is not uncommon for the secondary physical custody parent to receive some mid-week visitation as well. Keep in mind, there is no set schedule, and courts welcome mutually agreeable residential agreements. These arrangements can change depending on the ability of the parties to communicate and work together as well as the age and development of the child. If a custody action is filed, the parties will be required to participate in mediation with a trained professional mediator before the case is placed on a trial docket. The mediator, while having no authority to impose a custody arrangement, will attempt to facilitate an agreement between the parties. If an agreement is reached in mediation, it will be reduced to writing and entered by the court as an order after the parties are given an opportunity to review the written agreement with their respective attorneys.