In the state of Oregon, custody revolves around decision-making between parents around three major areas: education, elective medical procedures, and religious training.  Most couples who select mediation as a process for divorce usually choose joint custody.  The mediation process is not adversarial allowing parents to retain or even improve their relationship.  Many parents meet annually to discuss the needs of their children, plan a budget, a calendar, and discuss important developmental areas.  This helps parents focus on the children and work together on their behalf.

Sometimes joint custody is not a good choice.  For a variety of reasons, one parent may be selected with full custody informing the other parent of any and all decisions. Custody battles can be extremely expensive and toxic.  Mediation can explore many options surrounding custody to avoid long and adversarial court battles.

Many people confuse custody with visitation.  Custody does not deal with the amount of time a child spends with a parent.  A Parenting Plan is written for visitation between parents.  For more information about visitation, see Parenting Plans.