Families often favor joint custody arrangements because they maximize how much time each parent gets to spend with their children after separation. These custody arrangements can be beneficial, but they are also complicated and require a lot of work from both parents. A Chicago, IL, child custody attorney can help you determine if a 50-50 custody arrangement is right for your family and your options for scheduling custody.
Illinois does not have any legal presumptions regarding joint custody for parents but does tend to prefer them informally. Courts often look to maximize the amount of time children spend with each of their parents, or at the very least, give both parents an important role in their children’s lives. Because of this, equal or near-equal time with each parent is more common. This does not make it the right solution for every family, however.
What Is 50-50 Custody in Chicago?
Custody encompasses both legal custody, parenting responsibilities, and physical custody, or parenting time. Joint parental responsibilities are very common, as this means both parents have a say in crucial decisions about their children, such as where they go to school or their medical decisions. Joint parenting time is fairly common, but it is also common for one parent to have primary custody of their children and the other parent to have visitation rights.
In a 50-50 custody arraignment, parents have joint parental responsibilities and joint parenting time. This parenting time is as equally split between parents as is practical. Parents reach agreements in their parenting plan about legal decisions and other choices for how their child is raised and what to do when they need to make additional decisions. Parents also determine a schedule for their joint parenting time.
How Do You Know if 50-50 Custody Is Right for You?
Child custody and support decisions are made with the best interests of the child as a priority. This is true whether the court is making the decisions itself or if it is reviewing a parenting plan that parents made together to approve it. When deciding if a 50-50 arrangement is in a child’s interests, parents should consider certain factors, which are also factors the court will be considering.
A 50-50 schedule is more likely to be beneficial for a child when a family can meet the following:
- Both parents are capable and willing to communicate with each other about their child’s needs.
- Parents are able to effectively co-parent their child, including by establishing similar and consistent expectations, rules, and routines and limiting their conflict.
- The schedule of each parent and their child or children can fit the frequent exchanges and transportation of 50-50 custody.
- Both parents have the ability and willingness to care for and raise their children.
- Both parents have had a history of parental involvement in their child’s life.
- The primary homes of each parent are close to each other and close to their child’s school, making commutes between homes and school easier.
- Both parents prioritize their children’s needs and interests during the custody determination process.
- The child has the mental, physical, and emotional ability to frequently switch homes, and frequent movement is not overly disruptive to the child’s health and development.
- Both parents agree on a 50-50 arrangement as the ideal custody method.
Every family has unique circumstances, and these circumstances can also change as a child grows older. Parenting time being split equally must take into account holidays, school breaks, birthdays, and other important events in a family’s life. Due to these and other complicated factors, it can often make an exact split unrealistic.
However, if a 50-50 schedule is right for your children and your family, there are numerous schedules that can help your family get as close to equal parenting time as possible. 50-50 arrangements can be very helpful for a child’s development and for the relationship between co-parents.
FAQs
Q: How Can You Win 50-50 Custody in Illinois?
A: If you want 50-50 custody in Illinois, it can be helpful to work with your co-parent to create a parenting plan you agree on with 50-50 custody. If the court approves the plan, it will become your parenting time allocation rather than being up to the court’s discretion.
Illinois does not have a legal presumption about 50-50 custody but assumes both parents are fit to take care of their child unless shown otherwise. There may be an informal preference for joint custody, especially if parents appear willing to work together.
Q: What Is the Appropriate Way to Share 50-50 Custody?
A: There is no appropriate way to share 50-50 custody because the ideal custody arrangement will depend on a family’s unique schedules and needs. Some of these 50-50 arrangements include alternating weeks, the 2-2-3 schedule, or the 2-2-5-5 schedule.
Finding the right arrangement will rely on your work schedule, your child’s school and extracurricular schedule, your child’s needs, and the child’s age, among other factors. You want to find a schedule that limits stress while having as near-equal parenting time as possible.
Q: What Are the Disadvantages of 50-50 Custody?
A: There are some disadvantages of 50-50 custody, including that children are moved more frequently between homes and may, therefore, not have a stable enough environment to protect their mental and emotional health.
Such 50-50 custody also relies significantly on the ability of co-parents to work together and communicate, and the arrangement may fall apart if they cannot. 50-50 custody will also be less helpful for families if there is a lot of travel distance between homes.
Q: Who Pays Child Support in 50-50 Custody in Illinois?
A: When parents have 50-50 custody of their children in Illinois, the higher-earning parent will generally pay child support or the parent who is not paying for expenses like healthcare will pay.
Child support is based both on the amount of parenting time each parent has and their percentage of the combined income. When the high-earning spouse pays support, it ensures that each parent pays for an equal percentage of their child’s care. Not all 50-50 arrangements are perfectly equal for practical reasons. The parent with less parenting time may also pay support.
Protecting Your Children’s Interest as You Navigate New Custody Arrangements
A qualified attorney can help you negotiate and plan a parenting time schedule or help you modify an existing plan. Contact Stange Law Firm today.
