What custody schedule is best for a child? There truly isn’t a law or guideline that specifies the ideal child custody arrangement. The ideal custody arrangement for any parent’s child cannot be determined by any absolute law. In fact, it is presumed parents would like to spend more time with their children.
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The needs of the child, the child’s school schedule, and the parents’ work schedules are given greater importance by the court. The custody arrangement will be decided as equitably as feasible, but more important than being fair to the parents, it will be decided in a way that is fair, equitable, and age-appropriate for the child.
Every family is unique, thus some families or their children’s schedules may or may not work. Always keep in mind that the best course of action for the parents may not always be the best course of action for the children.
Older children may be more interested in having stability for weeks at a time without moving places, whilst younger children may prefer more frequent interaction with their parents. Since younger children may bond with one parent more strongly than the other, it may be ideal for the child to spend more time with one parent while still young until the child becomes older and starts spending more time with the other parent.
Is There a Guide for Determining the Best Custody Schedule?
Following a divorce or custody decision, it is typical for one parent to be given primary physical custody of the children, while the other is given reasonable parenting time.
The child has the right to live with the parent who has been given physical custody. Nevertheless, regardless of living arrangements, the non-custodial parent typically maintains legal custody of the children, enabling them to participate in important life decisions. Because one parent provides the majority of the care, the other parent cannot be excluded.
In Michigan, a child’s custodial parent is the one with whom they spend most of their overnights each year. This criterion is comparable to the one used by the Internal Revenue Service to establish a person’s eligibility to file taxes as a dependent.
There are two different types of custody: physical custody and legal custody. However, the term “physical custody” is no longer frequently used, most likely because of political correctness issues. Nobody genuinely has “physical custody” of a child, after all. According to Michigan law, the terms “physical custody” and “custodial parent” are now synonymous.
Most frequently, when individuals talk about a regular holiday custody schedule, they are referring to the FOC’s (Friend of the Court) usual holiday schedule.
The State of Michigan, Macomb County, and numerous other counties set guidelines for parenting time. These suggestions’ “best practices” apply to every situation, including regular weekday and weekend routines, holidays, school breaks, and other special occasions.
What Is the Best Custody Schedule for Your Child?
A parenting plan must include a custody schedule. We found that making decisions with the children’s interests at heart helped us make the best choices. We were able to negotiate the complex world of custody schedule because of that perspective. Custody schedules, however, can be a daunting process because every family is unique.
Planning Schedules Based on the Child’s Needs
Though it is considerably more typical for modern families than it was for earlier generations to split custody equally, it might not be the best arrangement for your family. It’s ideal to emphasize that a variety of factors can affect how your custody is shared and that it might change over time. Some considerations to think about are as follows:
[ a ] Your children’s ages
[ b ] The degree of cooperation you have with the other parent.
[ c ] Your determination to maintain a regular timetable rather than being flexible
The best custody schedule should be any schedule designed from the perspective of the child, and not the parent. When taking this perspective in planning the custody schedule, both parents must consider the following:
[ a ] Giving the parents “breaks” while maintaining contact with each parent at least once every few days.
[ b ] Consistency and predictability.
[ c ] The needs of the child’s growth are taken into consideration. For example, shorter, more frequent blocks of parental time may be most effective for newborns on a nursing schedule. The parents might arrange for the sharing of breast milk.
[ d ] When both parents previously took care of the child’s daily requirements, either jointly or individually, during nighttime parenting time.
[ e ] When a parent has not consistently cared for the child or is not at ease caring for the child, consider a “graduated schedule,” with less parenting time initially and increasing the frequency and duration of parenting time when parenting milestones are achieved.
[ f ] When parents are far apart, parenting time should be organized as frequently as necessary. Parents may have to travel for parenting time.
[ g ] The opportunity for both parents to accompany the child to special occasions like birthdays, religious holidays, and doctor’s appointments.
[ h ] A prolonged parenting time schedule as the child becomes older, could entail longer periods, such as numerous back-to-back overnights.
Using Full Weeks for Custody Schedules
These full-week custody plans should be taken into consideration when children are younger or when parents don’t live close enough to one another to allow for frequent transfers.
Alternating Weeks: Also known as “week on, week off,” this custody arrangement has children spend a full week with one parent before spending the following full week with the other. Parents can select, for example, what day the week begins and finishes on Sunday through Saturday and what time the children are transferred to the other parent. This custody plan prevents a lot of midweek moves.
Two Weeks Each: Children stay with the custodial parents for two weeks at a time rather than switching every other week. The two-week intervals may be too long for more minor children, but it lessens the number of times kids have to move from house to house. To make vacationing easier, some parents would only follow this plan during the summer.
Using Midweek Transfers in Custody Schedules
For children, a week without one parent can be too long. In these situations, breaking up the week is a good idea. You should be aware that these schedules divide custody equally over the course of two weeks.
One parent will have more days during the first week, while the other parent will have more days during the second week. However, the total number of custody days for each parent is equal at the end of the two-week term. There are various ways to fairly divide the weeks.
These numbers indicate how many days each parent will have. Formula 3-4-4-3 means Parent One has 3 days, followed by Parent Two’s 4 days, Parent One’s 4 days, and Parent Two’s 3 days. The schedules then reset.
3-4-4-3
Parents always have the same three days of the week in a row with this plan, while the fourth day alternates back and forth. One parent might get Monday through Wednesday off, while the other parent would have Friday through Sunday. Thursday switches sides every so often. You should be aware that weekends are not alternated in this plan unless you decide to make a Saturday or Sunday the day that switches.
5-2-2-5
Try this schedule if you would rather alternate full weekends with the children. Each parent has custody of their child on the same two consecutive days of the week, either Monday and Tuesday or Wednesday and Thursday, according to this timetable. Each parent spends the weekend in turn.
2-2-3
Try the 2-2-3 custody arrangement if you want your children to switch between their parents as frequently as you can without doing it every other day. Parent Two is in charge of the children for the following two days of the week after Parent One for two. The children spend the next three days with Parent One. The timetables switch the following week, giving Parent Two two days, Parent One two days, and Parent Two three days.
Holiday Custody Schedules
The suggested parenting time schedules offered by Macomb County offer a variety of options for dividing the holiday time a kid spends with each parent. In addition to prescribing that a child spends Mother’s Day weekend with the mother and Father’s Day weekend with the father, the suggestions indicate that parents divide up the following eight well-known holidays:
[ a ] Labor Day
[ b ] Memorial Day
[ c ] Fourth of July
[ d ] Halloween
[ e ] Thanksgiving
[ f ] Easter Sunday
[ g ] Christmas Eve
[ h ] Christmas Day
Four of the eighth annual holidays, with the holidays alternating each year, should be used by both parents to spend time with their children. The Fourth of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day will all be spent with the mother if the child spends Labor Day, Christmas Eve, Memorial Day, and Easter Sunday with their father.
Additionally, during winter and summer breaks, parents may swap breaks. The present General Parenting Time Schedule of the 16th Judicial Circuit Court is a notable example. We posted an article about holiday custody schedules entitled, “How Do You Split Holidays When Co-parenting In Michigan?” where we suggested holiday schedules you can use.
Flexible custody plans are essential to success. Making sure children have a regular phone or video chat contact with the non-custodial parent can lessen their loneliness. When you prioritize the needs of the children, it’s a good idea to observe how the children respond to absences and then modify the schedule as necessary.
Make sure you keep an eye on your children to see if the custody arrangement is genuinely beneficial to them.
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Goldman & Associates Law Firm is here to with information about Child Custody and Divorce in the State of Michigan.