When South Carolina parents go through a divorce, they often try to work out a custody arrangement on their own. Unfortunately, many of those parents don’t realize that they’re not limited to the traditional alternating week model, or schedules that involve rotating weekends only. Instead, there are several other types of custody scheduling options, each of which has their own benefits.
Alternating weeks with a visit
Child custody plans have evolved a lot over the years, especially as new studies come out that discuss the long-term impacts that some schedules have on children. For instance, some experts now believe that alternating weeks negatively impacts children, as they’re away from one of their parents for seven days at a time.
With that in mind, many divorced parents now use the alternating weeks model in which the child spends a midweek evening with the parent who doesn’t have custody. Once the visit is over, the child returns to the parent who has custody for the week before bed.
Alternating weeks with an overnight
An expanded version of the previous option, some parents allow the child to spend a night in the middle of the week with the parent who has an “off” week. For instance, if the custody exchange occurs on a Saturday, the child may spend Tuesday or Wednesday night with the parent who doesn’t have custody for the week before returning to the other parent the following day.
The 3-3-4-4 model
Experts agree that younger children benefit from spending frequent time with each parent, which makes the 3-3-4-4 model a viable option. Under this plan, one parent has the child for three days before the other parent gets them for three days. After those three days, the first parent has four days, followed by four days with the other parent.
The child custody plan that you choose for your child depends on their unique needs, your schedule and much more. Choosing a plan that works for everyone often takes some time, but it’s worth it.