The mother is the preferred custodial parent when the child is less than five years old. Even a mother who is a housewife can gain custody of the child and the father will be asked to provide child support. The earning capacity of the parent does not determine custody, but the capacity to provide a safe and secure environment does. Therefore, the parent who can take better care of the childвЂ™s emotional, educational, social and medical needs is favoured. The principle on which custody is decided is the вЂbest interests of the childвЂ™. The thinking has shifted from custody and access being the вЂright of a parentвЂ™ to being the вЂright of a childвЂ™. Both parents continue to be natural guardians. Custody of a child only implies to whom the child will physically reside with. IfВ divorce is inevitable, acrimonious battles cannot be the option to settle issues of child custody and access. The fatherвЂ™s right of Hizanat is applicable only in the absence of an able mother. A mother who is proven to neglect or ill-treat the child is not given custody.ДЄs per the Muslim Law, only the mother holds the ultimate right to seek her child/childrenвЂ™s custody under the Right of Hizanat as long as she is not convictedВ or found guilty of any misconduct.The choice of a child above the age of nine is considered.Fathers get custody of older boys and mothers of older girls, but it is not a strict rule and is primarily decided based on the childвЂ™s interests.Under secular law as well as Hindu law The mother usually gets custody of the minor child, under the age of five.However, under secular principles, India also sanctions laws pertaining to different religions. The Guardians and Wards Act, 1890 is the universal law pertaining to issues involving child custody and guardianship in India, regardless of the childвЂ™s religion. Instead, the child custody is granted to a third person by the court. Third Party Custody:В Neither of the biological parents are given custody of the child. Sole Custody: One parent has been proven to be an abusive and unfit parent and the other parent is granted custody. Both parents will have legal custody, but one will have the physical custody (child resides with him or her) and will be the childвЂ™s primary caretaker. Joint Physical Custody: A new concept that has evolved while negotiating divorce settlements. Under Indian law, maximum importance is given to the best interests of the child and so either parent does not have a clear primacy to be granted the custody of the child.ДЄfter the dissolution of a marriage, custody of a child can be given as: Divorce and custody battles can become a quagmire and the innocent child gets caught up in the legal and psychological warfare between both parents. Recently, the Supreme Court had stayed an order of the Gujarat High Court asking a mother to take her eight-year-old son to the United Kingdom, because of a judicial order passed there in a custody battle initiated by her estranged husband.

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