When a couple divorces and there is a minor child involved, the divorce decree will specify who has physical custody as well as legal custody of the child. Physical custody determines where and with whom the child will live. Legal custody specifies who has the legal right to make important decisions about the child related to issues such as education, religion, medical issues, and discipline. Spouses often reach an agreement regarding child custody on their own, but if they do not, the court will intervene and establish custody arrangements based on the best interests of the child.

There are typically several different custody arrangements that may be made for children of divorced parents. In most cases, courts will award physical custody to one parent with whom the child will live most of the time. The parents with physical custody, or the custodial parent, often shares legal custody, or the right to make decisions regarding the child, with the non-custodial parent. Many child custody arrangements involve joint custody in which the child spends a relatively equal amount of time with each parent.

In Delaware, courts make decisions regarding the physical and legal custody of children based on the best interests of the children. According to lawyers.com, the standards applied by Delaware courts in awarding custody include the following:

• The wishes of the child's parent or parents
• The child's wishes pertaining to his or her custodian and residential arrangements
• The child's interaction with family members
• The child's adjustment to his or her home, school, and community
• The mental and physical health of all individuals involved
• Past and present compliance by both parents with their rights and responsibilities to their child
• Evidence of domestic violence
• Criminal history of any party or any other resident of the household

If the parties cannot come to an agreement, Delaware courts will intervene to make decisions concerning the following items: whether the parents will have joint legal custody of the child or if one of the parents will have sole legal custody of the child; which parent the child will live with;  as well as scheduling visitation between the child and the noncustodial parent. All these decisions are made consistent with the child's best interests and maturity. Delaware courts permit and encourage the child to have frequent and meaningful contact with both parents unless after a hearing it is determined that contact of the child with one parent would endanger the child's physical health or significantly impair his or her emotional development.

According to Delaware law, when requested, each parent has the right to receive all material information concerning the child's progress in school, medical treatment, school activities and conferences, religious events, and other activities in which the child participates.  Both parents have a right to attend all of these activities as well as to access the child by phone and mail.

In Delaware, a child custody order may be modified only if an application for modification is filed within two years after the court's most recent custody order. If the court determines that the continuing enforcement of the prior order may endanger the child's physical health or significantly impair his or her emotional development, the order may be modified. To review the full text of the Delaware Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, go to Delaware.gov.