Originally Posted by
ScottGem
You have this mixed up. As CalifDad said, there is Legal and Physical custody. I would suspect your husband already has joint legal custody, since he has visitation rights and has a say in how the child is reared.
The mother currently has primary physical custody, because the child does live with her. It sounds like your husband wants primary physical custody. If he can show that the child spends more than 50% of the year with him, then he may be able to get.
I suspect, however, (especially is child support is involved), that the mother will fight this and start limiting the amount of time she hands the child over. So if the goal is to be able to spend more time and provide a better home, filing for primary physical custody may be counter productive.