How much time do co parents really receive under Texas' joint custody laws?
If you’re co parenting, you probably want to know how much time you’re entitled to spend with your child under Texas’ child visitation schedules. While co parents are always free to agree to their custody schedules, co parents who cannot agree follow either the Texas Standard Possession Order (“SPO”) or its Extended/Expanded version (“ESPO”).
How does joint custody work? Many families find it hard to track their co-parenting schedules. We created Our Days Calendar because we wanted to make child custody in Texas easier to understand. We know child custody schedules can change depending on summertime elections, but your child visitation can also differ thanks to changes in school breaks such as when a special child visitation day such as a holiday overrides what would be the other parent’s visitation. Below screenshot is an example of a typical SPO calendar.
So how much time do co parents get with their child under the child custody laws in Texas?
Child custody lawyers may calculate a child’s visitation with a custodial versus a non-custodial parent (NCP) only to find that the number of days with each parent differs year by year. Some calculate how much time co parents get with their children during their joint custody visitation schedules by counting hours rather than days. Others don’t count the number of hours that a child may be asleep or in school – a formula that indicates co parents receive almost equal amounts of time with their children under joint custody laws in Texas.
That means as a co parent you may have heard (or calculated yourself) joint custody visitation percentages ranging from 30 to 40% for the non-custodial parent, or perhaps the almost half-and-half ratio of 48% (non-custodial) to 52% (custodial). We calculated a 30% (non-custodial) to 70% (custodial) ratio under the SPO and 40% (non-custodial) to 60% (custodial) ratio under the ESPO for co parents operating under these joint custody schedules in 2021.*
*We counted sleepovers instead of hours, making adjustments for reasonable school breaks and summertime elections.
Joint Custody Calendar Under Texas Law
However, these child custody ratios are very likely to be different next year, even if we employ the same calculation! And this is not simply a matter of joint custody schedules varying over long periods of time — visitation schedules can vary greatly even from month to month. As shown above, holidays play a role in our calendars — but even “standard” months can look quite different.
Our Days Calendar app simply and automatically creates your visitation calendar in matter of minutes based on your decree. No more confusion. No more counting the days. Your family deserves the security of knowing where your children will be in three days, three weeks, or three months. Our Days Calendar is here for you. Try it FREE at App Store, Google Play or here at our website.
ODC – easy as 1, 2, 3!!!
