Calculating Parenting Time: Overview
Your Custody X Change parenting time report uses graphs and charts to show how parents divide caretaking during any period you select, past or future.
The data comes from your custody calendar and includes any schedule changes parents agree on and enter. It excludes any time the child spends with a third-party caretaker.
To reflect deviations from your custody schedule that were not planned or agreed upon (e.g., a parent's late arrival to an exchange), use the actual time tracker instead.
More parenting time help articles
Why you may need to calculate parenting time
A parenting time report can be instrumental when you...
- Negotiate with the other parent: Show them exactly the share of time they would get with their child under a certain schedule.
- File for settlement: The more detail you provide, the better the court can assess your proposal. A thorough report leaves the judge feeling that you're prepared and competent parents.
- Present evidence in court: Use a report to show how you've shared parenting time prior to receiving court orders or how you'd like to share parenting time afterward.
- Calculate child support: In many states, the child support formula includes parenting time. A Custody X Change report gives you precise numbers to use.
Accessing your report
To access your parenting time report, click the "calendar" tab.
In the top right corner, you'll see percentages. This is a preview of your parenting time data. To change the information you see previewed (e.g., percentage of overnight visits instead of percentage of hours) or to get rid of the preview, go to your account settings.
To view your full parenting time report, click "calculation report" (or the pie chart icon on smaller screens).
Time versus overnights
To use your report successfully, you need to understand the two ways to measure parenting time: by total time and by overnight visits. Some courts prefer one method over the other.
Total time adds up the hours and minutes a child is in a parent's care. Overnight visits are full nights spent in a parent's care.
On your Custody X Change report, time calculations are represented by a clock symbol, and overnight calculations are represented by a moon.
Elements in your report
Date range
At the top left of your report, use the menu to select which months to print.
You can select a preset period or choose "other dates" to enter a custom period.
Color selection and printing
At the top right of your report, check or uncheck the box to switch between black-and-white and color views. Use the adjacent buttons to print or save the report.
Time per parent
The first section of calculations focuses on the total time each parent cared or will care for the child during your selected period. The data is represented through percentages, a bar graph and a doughnut chart.
Overnights per parent
The second section focuses on how many times the child spent or will spend a full night in a parent's care during the selected period.
Monthly graphs
The third section breaks down the data for total parenting time and overnight visits by month, via two line graphs.
Monthly calendars
The next section presents your monthly data in a calendar view.
Monthly exchange data
The last section of the report details your monthly data in list form.
Click the plus button to the far right of a month to see parenting time broken down by visit, and click the minus button to close the detailed view. The "expand all" option at the top right of the section opens the detailed view for every month in your date range.
Making changes to your report
To update each parent's information (name, icon, assigned color), visit your account settings. To get there, click the user icon in the top right corner of the app, and select "account settings" from the drop-down menu.
To change your parenting time data, make adjustments to your custody schedules. (If you have a court-ordered schedule, you need permission from the court or other parent to deviate from it.)
In some cases, your parenting time numbers can shift based on how you calculate, without changes to your schedules. Third-party time and your selected date range are two factors that affect parenting time this way.