The difference between primary physical custody and shared physical custody is crucial to understand in a divorce.
Primary physical custody means that one parent is responsible for the day-to-day needs of the children, while the other parent has visitation rights. Shared custody, on the other hand, typically involves both parents having the children for roughly equal amounts of time (courts don’t require it to be exactly 50/50) and both taking responsibility for day-to-day needs. Courts in Iowa decide custody based on the best interests of the children by taking into account factors like stability, the child’s preference, and each parent’s ability to care for the child. Courts tend to prefer shared custody because it incentives both parents to take responsibility for the children.
In practice, shared custody arrangements may work well when both parents live close to each other and can effectively communicate. Primary physical custody may be preferred if one parent is better equipped to provide day-to-day care.
