Research on children's adjustment following divorce suggests that the choice of custodial parent may be an important factor. To examine the process by which parents decide on custody of their children in a divorce, a sample of divorcing couples (N=55) drawn from a large urban county and three rural counties, participated in tape recorded interviews and completed two forms of the Custody Decision Form (CDF). In the first form parents rated the importance of 20 general criteria and 6 additional criteria if they applied. On the second form parents were also required to rate the extent to which each consideration favored either the mother or the father. Statistical analyses showed that mothers and fathers agreed on the relative importance of various criteria (e.g., continuity in the child's environment, quality of the parent-child relationship) but not on the extent to which each criterion favored either partner. Priorities actually used to decide custody (e.g., ability to provide financially, parent's sense of responsibility for the child's well-being) differed somewhat from those rated most important (e.g., emotional stability of the parent, suitability of the parent's lifestyle or morals, parenting skills). Parents rated themselves as more suitable for custody than they were rated by their partners. Generally, fathers were less satisfied than mothers with the custody arrangement (75 percent of the couples agreed on mother custody, 13 percent agreed on joint custody, and 10 percent had not yet decided). (WAS)