California child custody laws allow parents to seek out a wide range of options. This is a positive design because it allows for the many different types of conditions and scenarios that can occur within any family. For example, there are three different types of "sole" custody which provide a single parent with exclusive rights and authority, but may not necessarily eliminate the legal rights to visitation for the other parent. There are also four different types of "joint" custody that allow parents to still work together to raise children, but provide a few different arrangements as to the physical and legal custody of the child. Quite often the courts try to avoid the physical or pure joint custody arrangements because it asks that a child spend significant amounts of time with each parent, which can be very difficult for any child to handle. If parents would like active input in the establishment of their custody arrangement, the California child custody laws allow them to submit a parenting plan for court consideration.