Because of the importance of the laws regarding child custody, all fifty states and the District of Columbia have adopted the Uniform Child Custody Act (UCCA). The UCCA attempts to minimize or eliminate child custody conflicts from state to state, by allowing each state to recognize and enforce custody orders made in other states. It is now most common to award custody to both parents at the same time, in an arrangement known as "joint custody," under which custody of the children is divided into legal and physical custody, with both parents sharing responsibility for the children simultaneously.