Be Like Birds: Find Out About Bird's Nest Child Custody

Law Blog

Staying together "for the children" is a common refrain among the unhappily married. With this new type of custody arrangement, however, parents can feel like they are providing their children with security even while divorcing. Just like bird parents that take turns caring for their young, bird's nest parenting puts a new spin on custody with some unique living arrangements. Read on to find out more about nesting, or bird's nest child custody arrangements.

Parenting Plan Choices

It's safe to say that most divorcing parents want to do what's best for their child. Parenting plans have come a long way from the days when the wife almost always had physical custody of the child and the father had visitation. However, this is still the most common child custody arrangement among divorced couples. Known as joint custody, the joint part refers to legal responsibility. Within that framework, one parent may be chosen as the primary physical custodian and the other parent gets visitation. The other common custody choice is shared parenting, where the division of custody is roughly 50/50. The child goes back and forth between the parents on a shared basis. That brings to mind how stressful visitation and custody arrangements can be on children, and that is, perhaps, why the idea of bird's nest parenting came to be a new form of custody.

How Bird's Nest Custody Works

A single home is chosen for the child to reside in 100% of the time, and the parents take turns staying in that main home with the child. The remainder of the time, the parent not with the child lives elsewhere. Some parents rent or purchase another home that is used exclusively for themselves (one at a time), and some parents have their own places.

It's plain to see how this plan can help children deal with the upheaval of a divorce. Often, the home they live in is the same family home they're used to. They'll be in the same school and have the same neighborhood friends. This type of arrangement can be difficult for parents, however. The time spent with the child might be a week or two at a time, with gaps when they are unable to see the child (some plans include visitation breaks, however). Contact a firm like Ritter & LeClere APC Attorneys At Law for more information about bird's nesting and other parenting choices that come with a divorce.

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28 May 2019