Parental responsibilities means making important decisions for, spending time with, and taking care of a child. For example, a parent must provide food, clothing, shelter, and education for their child. The court usually decides who gets parental responsibilities when married parents divorce or when a court establishes a child's parentage, if the parents are not married.
- Significant decision-making responsibility means important decisions for a child in the areas of education, healthcare, extracurricular activities, and religion. The court can give one or both parents significant decision-making responsibilities.
- Parenting time means time the child spends with each parent, including which parent the child will live with. The court usually gives both parents parenting time, but time is not always equal. The child usually lives mostly with one parent and has regular contact with the other parent.