Legal vs. Physical Custody: What Providers Need to Know

To start the new year, we are revisiting custody with a focus on legal versus physical custody. Physical custody involves with whom the minor will live. Documentation of physical custody is not needed to provide treatment at Balance Point Wellness. 

What is needed before services are provided is proof of legal custody. Legal custody speaks to who gets to make decisions on behalf of the minor and in what circumstances. The medical decision-making powers or broader legal custody must inform us as to who can consent to a child’s treatment. When the court has ruled on legal custody, we must have a copy of these documents in the chart so that we know who holds decision-making rights on behalf of a minor. Sometimes, parents share legal custody, but one parent is given decision-making powers for medical and mental health treatment. Therefore, it is very important to look closely at the court order and to reach out to your AD, supervisor, or compliance should you have questions. 

However, more often than not, there is no formal custody arrangement despite parents not living together or having a contentious relationship. In these cases, we must try our best to gain consent for treatment from both parents, as, without a formal custody order from a court, parents continue to hold equal rights. It is always best practice to have both parents consent to treatment, even if they live together. However, most importantly, if a parent who continues to hold legal custody rights does not agree to treatment, all services must stop until a court decides.