Sharing custody of children isn’t easy, but it is typical for divorced parents to do it. In Florida, the courts typically expect parents to create and uphold a time-sharing agreement.
Depending on the demands of your career, the relationship you have with your children, the ages of your kids and their needs, your family could have several viable options for how you handle time-sharing. The following are three of the more common and popular approaches that could be options for your family.
Alternate partial weeks between the parents
In order to ensure that neither parent misses out on significant changes or development in the lives of the children, frequent custody exchanges can be very helpful. Exchanging custody twice per week allows both parents to occasionally have free weekends while also ensuring that each parent is present during any given week with the children.
Have one parent handle the weekdays and another manage the weekends
If one parent has a more demanding job that they couldn’t reasonably leave if the kids came down with the flu at school, one parent may need to assume responsibility throughout the week, while the other takes responsibility on the weekend.
If the custody split is supposed to be more even than that, it may be possible for the parents to arrange for more shared parenting time during summer vacation or to add an extra night each week to make things more even.
Rotate full weeks for minimal disruption to the lives of the children
Frequent custody exchanges or only getting to see one parent on the weekend may not be the best solutions for some families. If your children are younger or if you and your ex don’t live particularly close to one another, alternating full weeks might be a good solution for your family.
Exploring what will work for you, your kids and your co-parent requires patience and communication. Your family law attorney can help you work toward a custody schedule that you think will be in your children’s best interests.