No two families are alike. Each family has its unique qualities and challenges. Thus, when parents decide to divorce, these diverse qualities impact what the family will look like post-divorce. Specifically, this will effect a child custody arrangement. While not all parents get along, especially in a high-conflict or domestic abuse situation, some parents are able to come together and collaborate. In these matters co-parenting is likely the most effective way to parent post-divorce.
What does modern joint custody look like? With the divorce rate still around 50 percent, it is no wonder why more and more children are raised by divorced parents. While it may not be healthy for parents to remain together, this does not mean it is unhealthy for parents to maintain a relationship with their child, especially if a strong bond was made during the marriage. Because it is difficult to ensure children are not negatively impacted by this arrangement, divorced parents have gotten more creative when it comes to designing a joint custody agreement.
For some divorced parents, this means maintaining the family home for just the children. It is the parents that come and go. In this arrangement, the home is called the nest and each parent takes turns coming and going from the nest when it is his or her time with the children. This arrangement helps reduce the impact passing a child back and forth between homes can have on them.
But this custody arrangement is not for everyone. In some cases, some parents are able to remain in the same house but in different bedrooms. This allowed for ongoing co-parenting and the ability to be in the lives of the children 100 percent of the time.
Co-parenting does not mean that parents have to live together or that they must keep the family home and trade off weeks. However, co-parenting does mean cooperating together. There is no one-size-fits-all way to develop a custody arrangement, but it is important to be mindful of the situation and the needs of the child because this situation is about them.