For many parents contemplating a divorce or dissolution of their marriage, a primary concern is which parent shall have “custody” of the child or children of the marriage. I shall begin the article by addressing the differences between the two parenting systems in Ohio – “sole custody” and “shared parenting”.
- The parents have different names or titles: In a situation where one parent has “sole custody” of the child/children, that parent is designated as the “residential parent and legal custodian” and the other parent is designated as the “non-residential parent” or the “non-custodial parent”. In a shared parenting situation both parents have the same title. They are both designated as the “residential parent and legal custodian” of the child or children. For school district reasons of residency and tuition, one parent’s residence is typically designated as the residence of the child for school district purposes. The parent whose residence is the residence of the child for school district purposes may have a slight advantage over the other party as he or she has the ability to change residences with the child changing school districts accordingly. For example, in a “shared parenting” arrangement wherein Mother’s residence is the residence of the