A physical custody case study where the parents choose shared custody of their children.
Fran and Bob were living separately for almost a year before they started their divorce proceeding. During that year the children lived with Fran, attended school, and saw Bob mostly on weekends. Fran worked in a part-time job which did not occupy her other than during school hours, while Bob often had to travel and work late, seeing clients. By the time they started working on their divorce agreement Fran and Bob had already reached a “defacto” understanding that the children would be best off continuing with Fran but Bob was uncomfortable with the idea of giving Fran sole physical custody.
After discussing it for some time it was agreed that they would draw up a “shared custody” agreement in which Bob would have the children from Friday evening to Sunday evening every week and Fran would have the children from Monday through Friday. It was also stated in the agreement that on weekends when Bob had to be out of town Fran would be given three days notification and that she would then take the children on those weekends. The agreement stated that Bob could visit with the children on any evening during the week when he had available time but he was required so as to protect her privacy.