Split Custody Schedules
Split custody is a very different form of custody than joint or sole custody. It is much less popular than other forms of custody therefore it is used much less often. Many divorce courts and family law professionals believe that split custody schedules can greatly benefit the emotional and physical well being of children involved in certain cases. A split custody arrangement requires that half of the children live with one co-parent and the other half live with the other co-parent, which can sometimes be problematic if your family has an odd number of children.
How can split custody schedules help your family?
Split custody is very much a controversy within the family law industry. There are many arguments for it’s benefits and many arguments for it’s drawbacks. How it will affect you and your family is totally dependent on your own situation. Some people view split custody schedules just as a way to be fair to both co-parents, while putting the burden on the children. Split custody schedules are not to be used in all situations and if you are only using your children to be fair with your co-parent, you must seriously reconsider another type of custody agreement.
- If either of your children has a bad relationship with you or your co-parent a split custody schedule may be the solution. This child will reside with the parent who they have the better relationship with.
- If either parent is not capable of caring for multiple children at the same time, split custody schedules allow them to care for as much as they are able to handle.
- Age of the children is a large factor in deciding upon split custody schedules. It is important to keep small children together because it is important to their growth and development. Older children often desire more freedom and may favor living with one co-parent over the other.
- In some cases, children may favor living with the co-parent of the same sex, but this is typically not a deciding factor.
- Families tend to benefit from split custody schedules if the children in the family are not close in age or they do not interact with one another.
- Split custody schedules could be divorce cases following a stepparent adoption.
Split custody schedules are not always the solution
Split custody schedules can sometimes lead to more problems than they are resolving. There are a lot of potential drawbacks that they could potentially create. This is why the issue is very controversial. It must be applied to your own situation and be given a lot of thought before coming to any decision.
- Split custody schedules often do not allow for one co-parent to have all of the children at any point in time. This means that the children will never have time with one another, which can have a serious negative effect on them.
- Co-parents are forced to live in close proximity with one another as a result of split custody schedules. Co-parent must seriously discuss this issue before an agreement is made to confirm that they are okay with this arrangement.
- The split can be very hard on the children regardless of age or gender. It may come as a shock to the children when they are separated from their siblings.
Split custody schedules and visitation
Split custody schedules do not require that half of the children live with one co-parent while the other half live with the other. If there is any sort of split, regardless of the number of children, it is considered split custody. One of the biggest concerns with split custody schedules is the fact that the children are rarely able to spend time with one another. A new idea that is emerging can help with this problem. Most of the time, visitation is given to both parents meaning that the children will switch households on a regular basis. To give the children time with one another, each parent could be given two weekends out of the month in which they care for all of the children at once. This idea is putting some worries to rest when co-parents are implementing split custody. For more information on how the OurFamilyWizard website® can help with your split custody schedules please visit the OFW Shared Parenting page.
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