In our last post, we were discussing the issues related custody of children and how to cope with the challenges of moving children from one home to another. Some parents have opted to use a relatively new form of child custody, known as “bird’s nest custody.”
In this arrangement, the children remain in one home, and the parents move in and out. For the children, the advantage is clear. They can stay in their own bed every night, without worrying about the possible need to change schools or find new friends. Their parents also can save by not needing to duplicate their children’s furniture and much of their clothes.
This type of custody places the children’s interests first, but the parents need to be fully prepared to make this custody arrangement work. There are dozens of issues that need to be worked out in your parenting plan.
How will ownership of the “children’s home” be handled? Will there be one parental bedroom, with each parent changing the sheets, or will they use two separate rooms? Where will the other parent live when they are not with their children? In an apartment, with friends or family?
If custody is shared 50/50, is there any child support? What if one of the parents has a new relationship? Can they bring that person into the children’s home? What it they remarry and have their own children?
Some parents find it works well, but you need to have a very good relationship with your child’s other parent and want to be certain the financial implications of this type of arrangement are thoroughly examined and made part of your formal property settlement.
Your parenting plan may need additional instruction on how to work with this format and properly set everyone’s excretions. Done well, you can truly place your children’s best interests first, but you want to fully understand the complexity and potential problems well in advance.
Source: telegraph.co.uk, “‘Bird’s nest custody’: The smart new way to divorce,” Radhika Sanghani, FEBRUARY 7, 2016
