Physical child custody, legal custody, and sole custody are terms that are often confused by people who are not familiar with divorce issues. A parent can be granted full physical custody that determines the child's primary residence. However, both parents may retain legal custody and must agree on important decisions. If one parent chooses to make these decisions without input from the other parent, this can cause serious problems. Most courts encourage shared parenting through the implementation of joint legal custody but this is not always reflected in the final allocation of custody. Sometimes this type of arrangement is simply not feasible if the parents refuse to cooperate and communicate. Sole legal custody may also be awarded if a parent abandons the child or when a parent poses a threat to the child's wellbeing. However, this does not automatically terminate visitation rights. These are often addressed separately.