Shared custody after a divorce can come in many different forms. Most of the time, parents alternate responsibilities for the children. They may split custody as equally as possible or have one parent spend more time with the children while the other provides financial support.
However, there is a different form of shared custody that works in families with unusual circumstances or special needs. If you have several children of vastly different ages, a child with special needs, or you and your co-parent live quite far from one another, split custody might be a better solution than standard shared custody arrangements.
What is split custody?
Unlike shared custody, split custody involves each parent having primary parental responsibility for certain children in the family. In some scenarios, the dad takes the sons most of the time and the daughters go with the mother, although the parents will frequently exchange custody so that the children remain close to both parents. Split custody may not involve any child support, depending on the arrangements.
Other times, it may be the connection between children and parents that determines who lives with which parent or even the geographic location of the parent after the divorce. For example, maybe a teen simply feels more at home with their father in the city, while the younger children in the house are happier in the suburbs with their mother. Sometimes, if there is a child with significant special needs, that child will stay with one parent and the other children in the family will stay with the other to give everyone the best chance at a stable daily life.
Split custody can be useful for families with unusual concerns about the demands of shared parental responsibilities. Learning more can help you find the right solutions for your family’s needs.
