custody

The care and control of a thing or person. The keeping, guarding, care, watch, inspection, preservation or security of a thing, carrying with it the idea of the thing being within the immediate personal care and control of the person to whose custody it is subjected. Immediate charge and control, and not the final, absolute control of ownership, implying responsibility for the protection and preservation of the thing in custody.

Also the detainer of a man's person by virtue of lawful process or authority. The term is very elastic and may mean actual imprisonment or physical detention or mere power, legal or physical, of imprisoning or of taking manual possession. Within statute requiring that petitioner be "in custody" to be entitled to federal habeas corpus relief does not necessarily mean actual physical detention in jail or prison but rather is synonymous with restraint of liberty. U. S. ex rel. Wirtz v. Sheehan, D.C.Wis., 319 F.Supp. 146, 147. Accordingly, persons on probation or parole or released on bail or on own recognizance have been held to be "in custody" for purposes of habeas corpus proceedings.

See chain of custody

- custodial interrogation

- in custody

- Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act

- protective custody

@ custody account

A type of agency account in which the custodian has the obligation to preserve and safekeep the property entrusted to him for his principal

@ custody of children

The care, control and maintenance of a child which may be awarded by a court to one of the parents as in a divorce or separation proceeding.

See also guardianship

- Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act.

@ divided custody

Divided custody is where child lives with each parent part of the year with reciprocal visitation privileges; in divided custody, parent with whom child is living has complete control over child during that period. In re Marriage of Ginsberg, Ind.App., 425 N.E.2d 656, 658.

@ joint custody

Joint custody involves both parents sharing responsibility and authority with respect to the children; it may involve joint "legal" custody and joint "physical" custody. In re Marriage of Ginsberg, Ind. App., 425 N.E.2d 656, 658.

Such includes physical sharing of child in addition to both parents participating in decisions affecting child's life, e.g., education, medical problems, recreation, etc.; "joint custody" does not mean fifty-fifty sharing of time, since each case depends on child's age, parent's availability and desires, and other factors. Plemer v. Plemer, La.App. 4 Cir., 436 So.2d 1348, 1349.

@ temporary custody

Awarding of custody of a child to a parent temporarily, pending the outcome of a separation or divorce action. The care, control and maintenance of a child which may be awarded by a court to one of the parents as in a divorce or separation proceeding.

@ Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act

A uniform law adopted in all states, cf. N.Y. McKinney's Domestic Relations Law, No.No. 75-a to 75-z, to deal with multi-state child custody and visitation disputes. Enacted in part to deter parental kidnapping, it generally recognizes jurisdiction in a child's "home state."

See custody of children

@ custody of the law

Property is in the custody of the law when it has been lawfully taken by authority of legal process, and remains in the possession of a public officer (as a sheriff) or an officer of a court (as a receiver) empowered by law to hold it.

See forfeiture

- seizure

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