Courts in Ohio have two choices when it comes to making a custody order:<\/p>\n
(1)\tGive each parent equal decision-making authority over the children. Each parent is the \u201cresidential parent and legal custodian\u201d in this scenario. The parents will outline their respective responsibilities in a Shared Parenting Plan. This is akin to \u201cjoint custody.\u201d <\/p>\n
(2)\tGive one parent the decision-making authority over the children. In this scenario, that parent will be the \u201cresidential parent and legal custodian.\u201d The other parent will be the \u201cnon-residential parent.\u201d This is akin to \u201csole custody.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ohio law does not use the term \u201ccustody.\u201d Instead, we call this \u201cthe allocation of parental rights and responsibilities.\u201d Similarly, Ohio law does not use the term \u201cvisitation.\u201d The non-residential parent has a \u201cparenting time schedule.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"