While parents have the right to make important decisions about their children's lives, they also have certain legal duties. Parents are legally required to support their minor children. Supporting your kids. Specifically, parental rights include: right to physical custody, which means reasonable visitation with a child and regular contact. right to legal custody, meaning the ability to make major decisions about the child's health, education, and religious upbringing includes providing food, clothing, shelter, and basic care.The reasoning behind such laws is that parents have a legal duty to take reasonable steps to supervise their minor children, and if they fail to fulfill that obligation, and the child ends up causing harm to another person or to property, the parent is legally (usually that means financially) responsible.
