A Custody Order gives responsibility for the child’s care and how the child is brought up to one or both of the child’s parents or to someone else. An Access Order provides for a division of time in which each of the parents, or someone else, spends with the child.
Courts in New York State can make orders related to custody and access only until the child turns 18, and the court bases custody and access decisions on what is best for the child, often referred to as the "best interest of the child.” If there is no Court Order, then both parents have equal rights to the child with respect to custody and access.
Custody relates to the ability to make important decisions about a child’s care such as medical care or religious upbringing. In situations where there is joint custody, the parents make major decisions about the child together. It does not matter which parent the child lives with more; it simply requires both parents to agree on major decisions together.
In circumstances in which one party has sole custody, the sole custodial parent has the right to make all major decisions for the child without input or decision-making power of the other parent.
Access, sometimes referred to as visitation, relates to when each parent, or someone else, is providing for the physical care and supervision of the child. In many cases, the parent who has the child more than the other is often designated as the primary residential custodial parent, but that term does not mean the primary residential parent has the right to make major decisions on their own, but rather that they are able to make the day-to-day decisions for the child's benefit as they often have the child more than the other parent.