Before we discuss what factors are considered to determine legal custody and physical placement of a minor child, let’s refresh your memory on the difference between these two. Legal custody refers to a parent’s right and responsibility to make legal decisions regarding the care of the child. Physical placement is the right of the parent to have a child physically reside with him/her for set placement periods.
The Wisconsin courts make decisions concerning custody and placement based on the best interests of the minor child. Thus, child custody and physical placement arrangements will be unique for each family and is determined by a number of factors including:
- Wishes of the child — a child’s age and maturity level help determine the weight given to a child’s opinion (there is no “magic age” where the child makes the final decision)
- Wishes of the parents
- Child’s relationships with siblings, parents, relatives and friends of the family or care providers
- Child’s adjustment to home, school and community
- The amount and quality of time a parent has spent with the child in the past and any proposed lifestyle changes to be made by a parent in order to spend more time with a child in the future
- Parent’s ability to provide predictability, stability and child care
- Criminal record of people with whom the parent lives or will live with, or is dating
- Parent’s willingness to cooperate, communicate and not interfere with the child’s relationship with the other parent
- Parents’ history of drug or alcohol abuse
- Parents’ mental and physical health
- Evidence of battery or domestic abuse
It is important to note that the court cannot base placement decisions based on a parent’s sex or race.
