There are several advantages to a joint child custody arrangement, where people essentially shared custody 50-50 with each other. Not surprisingly, fathers’ groups have been actively pushing for more favorable child custody arrangement that allow them equal time with the child, instead of a lopsided arrangement in which a child spends an overwhelming majority of the child with the mother.
Several states are removing forward with laws that favor joint custody arrangements. Arkansas and Arizona recently passed measures that are in favor of a more 50/50 shared custody arrangement. In Florida and Minnesota, similar bills were vetoed. Some states are actively studying the benefits of a joint child custody sharing arrangement, and have created task forces to study these arrangements. In Maryland, at least one task force is expected to release a report on the benefits of such an arrangement.
Fathers’ groups say that a joint sharing custody arrangement has major benefits, and definitely leads to more emotionally mature and well-adjusted children. They believe that in far too many cases, when a child custody dispute goes to court, it is the mother who is granted custody, trampling paternal rights. The National Parent Organization, which was formerly known as Fathers and Families, believes that there’s plenty of evidence to show that there are economic as well as emotional benefits when children see a lot of each parent, instead of more of the mother.
However, there are logistical issues to deal with in joint child custody. For instance, if the child has many activities after school to go to, a joint child custody arrangement can be very difficult to implement. Joint custody can work in those cases where there is no history of domestic violence, both of the parents get along fairly well with each other after the divorce, and live close to each other.
