aha! finally found the legal thread! question about child custody

[allya]

Sorry, I have posted this question on a couple of other threads because I wasn't sure where to, but now that I found the actual legal thread I will post it here. I'm so sorry if I sound redundant!
My question is:
When the father goes to prison? If he already has joint custody, will the mother automatically receive primary legal custody (authority to make decisions, etc) ?
What changes?
Can he still dictate whether or not the mother & kids move away, what school they go to, etc?
Thanks so much
(sorry to anyone who had to look at this post more than once.....)

[Gryphon]

It depends on whether there are any court orders in place. Without orders, each parent has an equal say in parenting; but the incarcerated parent in fact has around zero say-so since they can't enforce anything.
With court orders, maybe mom gets 100%; but if mom has "issues" then maybe she gets as little as 0%. However, if mom is out of the picture, then who'll raise the kids? That could be family, it might be foster care.

Originally Posted by allya

Sorry, I have posted this question on a couple of other threads because I wasn't sure where to, but now that I found the actual legal thread I will post it here. I'm so sorry if I sound redundant!
My question is:
When the father goes to prison? If he already has joint custody, will the mother automatically receive primary legal custody (authority to make decisions, etc) ?
What changes?
Can he still dictate whether or not the mother & kids move away, what school they go to, etc?
Thanks so much
(sorry to anyone who had to look at this post more than once.....)