Primary physical custody

Primary physical custody is a term that is often used in child custody orders to denote the parent with whom a child spends or lives the great majority of time with. It is a term that is often used in cases where parents are awarded joint physical custody and one parent has slightly more time with his/her child than the other. However, in most states, there is no statutory language or code where the primary physical custody terminology can be found and therefore it has no legal meaning. Rather, in terms of physical custody, a parent may be awarded joint physical custody or sole physical custody. In cases where the term primary physical custody is used in the order, the court will be tasked to look at the existing de facto arrangement between the parents to determine whether the parents have a true joint physical custody arrangement or if one parent has sole physical custody with visitation rights to the other parent.