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The laws in Oklahoma define temporary custody of a child as a decision made by the parents at the time of separation. Sometimes what could be in the best interest of the child at the time of separation might not be the best for the child down the road.

Legal custody is the next step of the Oklahoma child custody process. This is determined by which parent is able to make the legal choices for the child. The choices include education, health care, religion, and what's in the best interest for the child's general welfare. Joint custody and legal custody are two different things in Oklahoma. Joint legal custody splits the decision making responsibilities between the parents while sole legal custody allocates all of the decision making power to one parent.

Physical custody is where the child will actually get to live. This is split into two categories; sole physical custody and joint physical custody. Sole physical custody is given to the parent that the child actually gets to live with. The other parent is limited to visitation right determined through mediation or by the Oklahoma court system. Joint physical custody is a very rare circumstance in the state of Oklahoma. Joint physical custody would allow the child to live with both of the parents for a given set of time. Rarely is it determined that joint physical custody is in the best interest of the child. The courts in Oklahoma do not judge parents on gender, school district or the life they live. In difficult times it is important to know that the decision will be made based off of what is in the best interest of the child.