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What does 50/50 custody look like? Well, it depends on what the parents can agree to, or in other cases, what the Judge orders. The goal with most parents or judges is to achieve as close to equal parenting time as possible. Now, everyone agrees that perfectly equal scheduling does not exist, but there are some common schemes that come up when discussing an equal parenting schedule.
Most common, in my experience, is a 2-2-3 parenting schedule. The 2-2-3 schedule looks something like this in a parenting agreement:
“That in week one, Parent A will have the child on Sunday at 6:00
p.m. until 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Parent B will have the child from
Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. until Thursday at 6:00 p.m. Parent A will
have the child from Thursday at 6:00 p.m. through Sunday at 6:00 p.m. In
week two the schedule shall rotate.”
Another scheme is a 3-4-4-3 parenting schedule. Meaning, that Parent A gets 3 days, then Parent B gets 4 days, then Parent A gets 4 days, then Parent B gets 3 days. This schedule is more preferable for parents that may live a bit further apart. This scheme allows the child(ren) to be with both parents for an extended period of time, meaning fewer exchanges.
Now, these two schemes above are just common. Parents may agree to nearly any scheme of parenting time. Historically, parents have used the “Weekends and Wednesdays” scheme, meaning that one parent gets to exercise their parenting time on Wednesdays and Friday-Sunday. Some other parenting schemes are “week-on, week-off,” “week-on, week-off with midweek visit,” 2-2-5-5, “every other weekend,” and “every other weekend with midweek visits.” If you can come up with a roughly equal agreement, then a Court will likely adopt that into any orders. If you need assistance formulating a more appropriate scheme for your situation, please contact us for help.
Now, onto holidays and vacations. Many counties have their own holiday time sharing guidelines. For example, Fayette County’s guidelines state that Parent A shall have the child on his or her birthday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Eve in odd-numbered years, while Parent B will have the child on Christmas day in odd-numbered years. In even numbered years, the schedule is reversed. Mother’s Day and Father’s Day should be with the respective parents. Spring, Fall, Winter, and Summer breaks are also included in the guidelines.
If the Fayette County guidelines do not sound pleasing to you, then you and the other parent may always agree to a different holiday schedule. If you have any questions about how your county in particular handles holiday or other parenting schedule issues, please call our office for a consultation.
