The term, sole custody is used to describe the exclusive physical custody rights that one parent has over another. This includes both physical and legal custodial rights. It is actually rare a judge will make a decision that one parent is unfit to have custody of the child in some form. The most common instance when this happens is when one parent has been determined to be unfit and incapable of having any type of responsibility for the child. This may occur if one parent is suffering from an alcohol or drug addiction or if there are instances of child abuse. In situations of sole custody, the non-custodial parent will have no right to make decisions for their child, nor the right to visit their child.