Divorce Mediation is a peaceful alternative to the usually contentious litigation, but that doesn’t make it easier to decide how to split time with your kids. When deciding how to split time for your co-parenting arrangement, it can be difficult to know where to start. It’s important to find a schedule that works for both parents AND the children.
A few major factors to consider are:
- how consistent the schedule is;
- the amount of communication and hand-offs between parents necessary for success;
- whether the schedule is conducive to a routine;
- the time spent away from each parent; and
- how extracurricular activities will be affected.
One example of a 60/40 custody schedule is the Every Extended Weekend.
Pros: Schedule Consistency, Minimal Communication, Minimal Hand-offs, Routine Conductive, Extracurriculars
Cons: Time Away
Great for: Older children
This schedule allows for school aged children to focus on their week without the speed bump of switching midweek. Extracurricular activities make for easy scheduling, but if children are in a sport that has games or competitions on certain days, parents will need to make some plans depending on if they would like to attend games and competitions together or switch off. A major downside is that one parent is getting the school/work week and the other is getting the weekend.
60/40 schedules work best when:
- Parents both want substantial time with the child, but 50/50 schedules have too many exchanges
- Parents are able to communicate without conflict about the schedule and the child
- Parents live fairly close to each other so the exchanges aren’t a burden
- The child does well living in two houses and feels comfortable with change
Click here for a summary of the co-parenting schedule examples.
