NFL Hall of Famer, Deion Sanders was recently awarded primary custody of
his three kids with his estranged wife, Pilar Sanders. Specifically, Deion
was given full physical and legal custody of his 13- and 11-year-old sons,
and shared physical and legal custody of his 9-year-old daughter.
As this latest ruling settles the parties’ custody issues, they are
still battling over finances in their divorce.
It is important to understand that custody and access are two separate
legal concepts.
Custody of a child refers to how majordecisions for the child will be made and
by whom. This usually refers to four major areas: healthcare and medicine,
education, religion, and mobility.
There are two types of custody: sole custody and joint custody. Sole custodyis
when one parent makes all of the major decisions regarding the children;
joint custodyis when both parents make major decisions regarding the children together.
In contrast to custody,
access is about time spent with the child. Regardless of the custody arrangements
for the child, both parents have the right to spend time with the child
unless the court decides that this is not in the child’s best interests.
A court is only likely to refuse a parent access to their child only if
there is a fear that the parent will harm the child or the custodial parent,
or if there is risk that the access parent will not return the child to
other parent.
For more information about this topic or any other family law topics, visit our
website. If you need legal advice regarding your own situation, please call us at
(905) 581-7222 to schedule an initial consultation.