The divorce process in North Carolina can be complex and difficult to manage. One of the trickiest parts is balancing out visitation of children when there is shared custody. The standard arrangement is to alternate weeks, but that might not be the best approach depending on the family. Alternative approaches are becoming more popular.
Co-parenting time division
The week on, week off co-parenting can lead to problems because the length of time that the kids spend with one parent is fairly long. This can have more of an impact if the kids are younger. Other styles involve more frequent hand-offs. For example, a three-four schedule has the kids spend three days with one parent and four with the other, then four with the first parent and three with the second. It involves the extra logistical burden of more transportation, but it lets the kids get more frequent time with each parent. Another example is the two-two-three, which has even shorter intervals. The tradeoff is between a greater burden of transportation and a shorter balance of time in each house.
Child custody is difficult to manage if the couple is not prepared to work together on the logistics. The more amicable they can be about the split and about child care, the easier it will be to work things out.
Open communication about transportation, boundaries, timings, and other key elements of joint custody are a big part of making things work. If coordination on those topics is not smooth and easy, then a frequent, short-interval schedule might not be functional enough to be in the best interests of everyone involved.