An Empirical Study of Custody Agreements: Joint versus Sole Legal Custody

The public records of 500 divorces involving minor children were abstracted from the files of a county probate and family court. The families’ demographics and the chronology of the marriages and their dissolution are reported, as are the varieties and frequencies of the custody and visitation decisions. The provisions made for the children's current and future physical, financial, and educational needs are summarized together with the incidences of post-divorce litigation.