Making Your Custody Schedule

Creating a child custody schedule can be difficult. It is hard to figure out the balance of time that the children will spend with each parent. And, it is time consuming to count all of the days and to apply a schedule to an entire year.

The child custody schedule is also one of the most important things in a custody agreement. This is the document that outlines the time the child has with each parent. It's important that the parents work through the challenges of creating the custody schedule so they will be happy with the end result.

Parents can choose between many custody schedules. Many parents decide to adopt a joint custody schedule. In this schedule, both parents get about the same time with the children.

A fifty-fifty custody split is another common type of custody schedule and it is similar to a joint custody schedule. Like the name implies, this schedule means that each parent gets half of the time with the child. An example of a simple fifty-fifty split is parents alternating custody every week or every two weeks.

If parents want to have joint custody or a fifty-fifty custody arrangement but the child needs more stability during the school year, there are ways to get around that. Many parents set up a schedule in the school year where the child lives primarily with one parent during the week (the other parent may get weekends and a weeknight visit) and then the schedule switches in the summer break or other breaks. This is a way to compensate time for the other parent.

There are other custody arrangements where the time is less evenly divided. A common example of this is one parent having custody and the other parent getting every other weekend. You can also include visits during the weekdays or an overnight visit. You can set up your schedule for whatever works for you.

Don't forget to include a holidays schedule in your custody arrangement. A simple way to divide the holidays is to make a list of the major holidays and the minor holidays. Decide the length of time for the holidays and then divide them evenly.

Completing the task of your child custody schedule is a good feeling. Once you have everything in place, you will have a lot less stress. Then you can just enjoy the time you have with your children.