How a New York Court Allocates Parenting Time With Your Child

Parents who separate or divorce typically want to continue to have as much time as they can with their children. In New York, what used to be called “visitation” is now more accurately called “parenting time,” that is, the time when the child is resident with either parent. Courts deciding on awards of parenting time strive to set arrangements that preserve parent-child relationships and serve the children’s best interests.

Exactly how a judge allocates parenting time depends on an evaluation of the parents and the family dynamics. Judges consider a variety of factors in their best-interests analysis, including:

• Each parent’s ability to meet the children’s physical and emotional needs
• The pre-existing connection between each parent and the children
• The unique social and medical needs of the children
• The parents’ past involvement in the children’s upbringing, including daily care, school matters, medical concerns and activities
• School and work schedules
• The distance between parental homes
• The ability of each parent to provide continuity and stability
• The wishes of the children, if they are old and mature enough to express appropriate reasoning for their preferences

Judges typically favor arrangements that provide both parties substantial parenting time (but not necessarily equal time), although one parent may end up with more parenting time because of work obligations, distance or other issues that create difficulties.  Due to the current trend of where both parents work, you will find more resolutions of equal or shared parenting custody arrangements.  Those typically will require both parents to live within a relatively close radius to one another, typically within the same school district. 

A Family Court or Supreme Court judge may sharply limit one parent’s parenting time if there is a documented history of abuse, neglect or problematic substance abuse. A judge’s determination can also be influenced by a parent’s prior unwillingness to cooperate with the other parent, including alienation of their co-parent from the children. Judges want to see parents cooperating and acting in the children’s best interests.

The legal process of allocating parenting time may seem frustrating and intimidating. The assistance of a child custody lawyer can help parents understand what the law requires and can present their case for equal or expanded parenting time in a way that is likely to result in a favorable result.

Jakubowski, Robertson, Maffei, Goldsmith & Tartaglia, LLP in St. James, NY represents mothers and fathers across Long Island in child custody proceedings. Schedule an initial consultation by calling 631-360-0400 or contacting us online.