Minor children are often unable to make their own medical decisions, such as authorizing certain treatments. Their parents have the authority to make these decisions for them, as adults. When parents are married, they will typically work together.
Things can get a bit complicated after a divorce, however. When two people are co-parenting, who gets to make these medical decisions? What if they disagree?
Legal custody rights
To begin with, parents should consult their custody arrangement, which was set up during the divorce. It should address both physical and legal custody rights. A parent who has legal custody rights can make decisions about healthcare and medical needs, along with things like religion or education.
If both parents have shared legal custody and they do not agree on what treatment should be authorized, they do need to work together. Making an independent decision could violate the rights of the other co-parent.
Emergency situations
In some cases, parents find themselves faced with an emergency. For instance, a parent who does not have legal custody may still have physical custody or visitation rights. While they are with the child, the child could suffer a serious injury that needs emergency medical care.
As a general rule, that parent can still authorize this emergency care, even if they are unable to contact the other parent and get permission first. But they should still strive to get in touch with the other co-parent as soon as possible, inform them of what has happened and allow them to be involved in authorizing future medical decisions.
Legal custody rights can be complicated and sometimes lead to disputes between co-parents. In this situation, it can help parents to work with an experienced family law attorney.