How to Divorce: Parent-Time

How to Divorce – Parent-Time

Typically in a divorce with children, parent-time is always a critical issue. In Utah, child support and custody are determined based on the number of overnights that a parent has with a child.  Most parent-time issues deal with the difference between sole physical custody and joint physical custody. In Utah sole physical is defined as one party being the primary custodial parent with the other party having parent-time.  The Utah legislature has set the magic number at 110 overnights using the rotating weekends and holiday schedule set forth in http://le.utah.gov/code/TITLE30/htm/30_03_003500.htm.  For children over the age of 5, the rotating “statutory minimum” schedule is every other weekend from 6:00 p.m. on Friday to 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, and one 3 hour visit during the week usually from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. with additional overnights for holidays, winter, spring, and summer vacations.

Joint physical custody is technically anything over the statutory minimum of 110 overnights, but typically if it is just a couple of nights over, the label does not quite apply.   In a joint physical custody arrangement, neither party is designated as the primary physical custodian (unless they agree to this) and a joint parenting relationship exists between the parties.  A joint physical custody arrangement also has other legal ramifications such as hindering a parent’s ability to move further than 150 miles from the other parent as well as its affect on child support.

Without trying to sound too cynical, child support often motivates divorce litigants to push for joint physical custody.  A few numbers may be helpful to understand why this may happen.  Assuming that the Petitioner has sole physical custody with 2 minor children and makes $2,000 per month and the Respondent makes $4,000 per month.  The Respondent’s child support obligation would be $864 per month.  Same facts only now the parenting arrangement is 50/50, which results in Respondent’s child support obligation being $231 per month.  Giving Respondent an extra 30 overnights reduces the child support obligation to $686 per month.  With these numbers, it is easy to see why parent’s fight for a joint custody situation.