You may be divorcing your spouse, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t family. After all, you still have children you’re not done raising together.
One of the best parts about working with your spouse to craft a custody agreement without the court’s involvement is that you’re free to be as creative as you like. That’s important when you know that your family has some unique needs that won’t be met by the judicial “one-size-fits-all” approach to things.
Split custody may be the sort of creative solution that appeals to you and your spouse. In a split custody arrangement, physical custody of the children is divided according to what makes the most sense for each child.
When does splitting up the kids between the households make sense? Consider these examples:
- There’s a big age gap between the kids. Toddlers and teens live in vastly different worlds. It may be difficult to give both the right amount of attention when they’re in the same household.
- The children don’t get along. While you always hope that your children will be friends, differing personalities can clash when they’re under the same roof — siblings or not.
- One child has specific needs. If one of your children requires special care due to a disability or has special gifts that require extra effort to cultivate, they may benefit from living closer to a hospital, school or tutor — while the other kids may be happier where they are.
- The kids request it. As painful as it may be, one of your children may simply prefer to live with your ex-spouse, even though the rest of their siblings are with you.
There’s no rule that says all of the children of a split household have to live together, all of the time. Find out more about how custody can be tailored to your children’s needs.