When parents of a child do not live together, but they have agreed to have 50/50 joint physical custody – or a judge has granted joint physical custody – there is the further question of what the schedule of the child staying with each parent will look like. As with other aspects of a divorce and/or child custody matter, a California family court judge will usually approve an agreement that the parents reach on their own, so long as it honors the child’s best interests, and the courts will prefer this over imposing the court’s own schedule as the parents should have a much better sense of their children’s needs and how their own schedules can best honor those needs.
Parental Cooperation Will Be Key
Clearly, if you and the other parent are not living together, then differences between you and the other parent exist, but those differences do not have to play a role in how you interact as co-parents working together on a parenting schedule.
Moving from a single, two-parent home to a consistent, by-the-calendar schedule with clearly delineated times at which to drop-off the child and responsibilities may feel rigid and complicated at first, but the parents who are willing to make the effort to honor that routine soon find that the effort pays off big time in promoting civility, creating a civil and pleasant relationship, and providing a happy life for the child.
Find a Timeline That Works For You, But is Built Around the Child
Again, California judges are happy to sign off on schedules that are 100% created by the parents themselves, so long as that schedule is built around meeting the child’s needs rather than having the child’s needs be made to fit around the parents’ scheduling needs.
Of course, parents also have to financially support the children and themselves with jobs, and courts understand that, but they also expect parents to make reasonable efforts to adjust their own schedules on behalf of the child to take the child to school, attend events with the child, transport them to extracurricular activities, and so on.
Examples of 50/50 Custody Timelines
There are a variety of 50/50 joint custody schedules a California judge can approve including:
- Half of the week with each parent – e.g. Sunday night through Thursday afternoon with one parent, and Thursday afternoon through Sunday night with the other
- One week with one parent, the next week with the other parent
- Two weeks with one parent, the next two weeks with the other parent
- Alternating 3:4 timelines, e.g. Sunday through Tuesday with Parent 1 and Wednesday through Saturday with Parent 2 in the first week, then Sunday through Wednesday with Parent 1 and Thursday through Saturday with Parent 2 in the second week
Your family law attorney can work with you and the other parent’s attorney to develop a schedule that will serve everyone’s needs for years to come.
For any questions on family law in California, contact the Law Office of Kelley C. Finan today to schedule a consultation to discuss your circumstances.