When you and your ex were married, you got to work together to make medical decisions for your child. When you decided to get divorced, your custody arrangement determined who would be allowed to make these choices. This is known as legal custody, and it is separate from physical custody – where the child lives.
But you may find yourself in a situation where you and your ex don’t agree on what should happen moving forward. Maybe you do not want your child to get certain vaccines from the doctor. Your ex does, and they are going to take the child to the doctor without your permission. Are they allowed to do so?
Is custody shared jointly?
It just depends on the custody arrangement. Even if legal custody was split between both of you, the court may have assigned legal custody to only one person. If your ex has sole legal custody, then they do have the right to make these decisions without your input.
But if legal custody was also shared or split between the two of you, then your ex cannot make this decision on their own. It would be a violation of your child custody rights if they made decisions about healthcare, religion, school or finances without consulting you.
But what if you can’t agree because you both have very different stances about healthcare? In that case, you may need to go to court, where the court will rule on what they think is in the child’s best interests. It is very important to understand all of the legal steps that you should take, and neither parent should make decisions that would violate the other person‘s rights.
