50/50 Parenting Time

We have noticed a growing trend in Chicago divorces for equal parenting time. More judges and guardian ad litems are finding that it is in a child’s best interest to have both parents equally involved in the child’s life. In some cases, the custody judgment provides that neither parent is the “primary custodian”. The child may live with each parent during alternating weeks or another schedule that provides each parent with 50% of the child’s time. In some high income divorces, a “nesting” custody arrangement is in place. With “nesting” custody, the child stays in the home and it is the parents that alternate living in the home with the child. A nesting custody arrangement can require three homes. Custody should be decided based upon what is in the child’s best interest. Equal parenting time is not in every child’s best interest but it is in the best interest of some children. If one parent has handled all or almost all of the daily parenting tasks, obtaining equal parenting time for the other parent may be difficult. Decades ago, it was typically mothers who handled all or most of the daily parenting tasks. But many of the fathers today take a very hands-on approach to parenting their children. If the parents share in the parenting tasks such as taking the children to and from school, preparing meals, attending doctors’ appointments, etc., it may be in the children’s best interests that both parents continue doing so. The custody laws in Illinois are gender-neutral. A custody judgment may need to require that both parents live within 10 miles of each other and the same school district until the children graduate high school if neither parent is the primary custodian.