The Best Shared Custody Schedule for Your Child
As a divorced or separated parent, you want to make the best shared custody schedule for your child. You’re willing to put in the time and effort that it takes to make a good schedule, and you are willing to be the needs of your child first. So, what is the best schedule? Well, there really isn’t one right answer for everybody. The best shared custody schedule for your child depends very much on your situation and circumstances. You are the best judge of what schedule is right for your child, but here are some suggestions that you can follow that should help lead you to the schedule you want.
1. To begin the process of making your schedule, get a blank calendar. You can print one off of the computer, use Custody X Change, or get a regular calendar from the store (or use an old one).
2. You want to first come up with a repeating cycle of custody and visitation. As you begin to mark off the time, consider the following questions.
- What are the schedules of the parents and how can they arrange visitation/custody exchanges?
- What is the schedule of the child–is the child in school, have extra activities, in day care, etc?
- How close do you and the other parent live? Will transportation be easy to figure out or difficult?
- How easily does the child adjust to the parents’ homes? Is visitation possible at each parents’ house?
- What are the easiest transition times for the child to exchange for visitation?
3. You’ll first want to come up with the residence of the child. Some shared child custody schedules have the child live in both homes. However, a shared schedule doesn’t have to do this. The child can still have a primary home with frequent visitation to the other home.
4. Schedule out the visitation/custody that the parents will share. It is best if you can do this with the other parent.
5. If the child spends more time with one parent because of school, consider changing the schedule to favor the other parent during breaks and vacations.
6. Make a holiday schedule that is fair for each parent.
7. Decide the time that each parent is allowed to take the child on vacation.
8. Put in any special events in the schedule, and decide how you will make changes to the schedule as they are needed.
