Shared parenting legislation

Shared Parenting refers to joint physical custody, where both parents share roughly equal parenting time and are also recognised by law as the legal guardians of their children.

Second Council of children's rights, there are only 6 States in United States-Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Wisconsin-who currently have legislation that promotes equal access to both parents.

In recent years, several Member States have considered shared parenting legislation: in April 2007, Michigan State representative Glenn Steil, Jr. introduced House Bill 4564, which would require shared parenting in all cases except those situation where any parent is considered unfit, unwilling or incapable of caring for their children. the Bill was submitted to the House and the Family Services Committee of the child on April 5, 2007.
In 2006, the participants in the general election of North Dakota voted against a shared parenting initiative on the ballot proposal.
In 2005, the legislature of New York as an initiative of shared parenting.However, Bill A00330 was put on hold in April 2006.
Also in 2005, the Massachusetts legislature considered titles to require shared custody. However, in June 2006, the Commission of Justice of the Massachusetts Senate recommended against shared parenting and accounts were put on hold.

Shared Parenting has always been an option for parents in the past, this was known as "joint physical custody." what is relatively new is the consideration of shared parenting laws which would make the rule of law in cases where neither parent is considered "inappropriate" to educate their children.

In other words, unless a parent can effectively prove that the other is inappropriate, the family would be required by law to start a joint custody agreement, which would include physical custody and legal custody.

What is hard to swallow about shared parenting legislation is the mindset of one-size-fits-all. Clearly, we need to find creative solutions that maximize the effective participation of each parent. However, we recognize that not all children thrive when they are forced to transition back and forth between two homes.

Click "next" to read the pros and cons of shared parenting.