What physical custody means
Physical custody is about where the child lives and who provides the day-to-day care: meals, bedtimes, getting to school, the ordinary rhythm of a child's life. It is distinct from legal custody, which is about decision-making authority. A parent can share major decisions while the child primarily lives with the other parent, or the reverse.
Like legal custody, physical custody can be sole or joint, and it is what drives the parenting-time schedule. The labels can be misleading on their own, because two families with joint physical custody may still divide time quite differently depending on their specific schedule.
For documentation, physical custody is where day-to-day caregiving records matter most: who handled appointments, who managed school logistics, who was present for daily routines. This kind of record speaks directly to how caregiving is actually shared.
Example: a log of who took the child to medical and dental visits over a year is concrete evidence of day-to-day involvement. Terminology and presumptions vary by state, so confirm what your order means where you live.