There is a distinction between “joint legal custody”, which usually involves sharing in all the important decisions concerning the child, and “joint physical custody”, which involves sharing time with and physically caring for the child. Although there is no consensus as to a precise definition of “joint custody,” the Court of Appeals has commented that “joint custody” is generally used to describe joint legal custody or joint decision-making, as opposed to expanded visitation or shared custody arrangements. Bast v. Rossoff, 91 N.Y.2d 723 (1998)). It has been said that “joint legal custody”, sometimes referred to as “divided” custody or “joint decision making”, gives both parents “a shared responsibility for and control of a child’s upbringing.” It may include an arrangement between the parents where they alternate physical custody of the child. Braiman v. Braiman, 44 N.Y.2d 584 (1978).

It has been held that where there are two or more children and their custody is split between the parents, each party’s proportionate obligation for support of the child(ren) residing with the other must be calculated, and after their respective obligations are determined, a net support obligation is derived by subtracting the smaller from the greater of them. Riseley v. Riseley, 208 A.D.2d 132 (3d Dept. 1995); Scomello v. Scomello, 260 A.D.2d 483 (2d Dept. 1999).

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