Family Law / Child Custody and Visitation / Shared Parenting
Shared parenting in Ohio, contrary to popular belief, does not always mean shared physical custody or equal parenting time for both parents. Ohio’s law permits “shared parenting”. The specifics, however, of what “Shared Parenting” means are articulated in a shared parenting plan.
Generally speaking, people who enter into a Shared Parenting Plan should have some level of cooperation and ability to communicate for the sake of making joint decisions regarding their children. The plan must address all aspects of care for the children, including the physical living arrangements, provisions for medical and dental care, school placement and child support obligations.
Most plans also provide for religious upbringing and activities of the children. Some shared parenting arrangements provide for an equal sharing of time but many plans provide for the children to spend the majority of time with one parent, while the other parent has scheduled parenting time.
Parties can disagree greatly on the terms of the shared parenting plan and therefore the Court may make the decision as to what terms will or will not be included in the plan. If the parties cannot reach agreement on the terms of shared parenting, then a custody trial will take place, in which case the court will adopt one of the parent’s plans, or reject both plans and require certain provisions to be included in a new plan. Many people believe getting shared parenting is easier than a custody case.
Litigating shared parenting cases are similar to litigating sole custody cases and require an experienced family law attorney, such as Roberta Roberts.