Physical Custody and Legal Custody

      In Virginia, there's physical custody and there's legal custody.  Legal custody has to do with decision-making authority.  It has nothing to do with how much time the children spend with one parent or the other parent.  Legal custody can be joint legal custody or sole legal custody and as I said it doesn't have to do with how much time the children spend with each parent, it has to do with making major decisions that are going to have a long-term effect on your children's lives, such as decisions over education, religion or non-emergency medical treatment.  If you have sole legal custody then you can unilaterally make those decisions or you can make those decisions for yourself without having to consult with your spouse first.  Joint legal custody, on the other hand, means that you have to converse with your spouse about the issues that are going to have a long-term impact on your children's lives and try to reach a resolution with your spouse on those issues.