While you and your spouse were married, you may have had conflicts over where your child should go to school. Perhaps the two of you were looking for a different type of environment, a different learning system or just a different type of school altogether. For instance, maybe your spouse wanted your child to go to a traditional school, while you preferred a Montessori school.
But now that you and your spouse have gotten divorced, you share custody of your child, who lives with you for one week and with your spouse the next. Since your marriage has ended, you’d like to make some changes in your life, and one of those includes putting your child into a new school. Are you allowed to do so?
Do you have legal custody rights?
The important thing to remember here is that physical custody concerns don’t address these types of decisions. The child lives with both of you, so you share physical custody. But do you also share legal custody rights, or has this right been assigned to just one parent?
Legal custody covers important decisions such as education, healthcare, finances and religion. If you have sole legal custody, then no matter where your child lives, you can decide to put them in a different school. But if your spouse has sole legal custody, you’re not allowed to make these changes. Moreover, if the two of you share legal custody, then you are still required to work together—even though you’re no longer married. That means you can’t unilaterally move your child into a new school without first discussing it with your ex and getting their agreement.
As you can imagine, legal custody can sometimes lead to disputes between co-parents. It’s very important to know what legal options you have available. Seeking legal guidance is a good way to start.
