Custody schedules
Custody schedule templates, and how to pick one you can live with
A schedule that looks fair on paper can still fall apart in practice — too many handoffs for a toddler, a midweek exchange across a 45-minute commute, a holiday clause nobody can parse in December. Below are the schedules courts see most often, what each one asks of a family, and how to write it so it can be enforced later.
Build your 50/50 schedule
Pick a pattern and a start date — see exactly who has the kids, overnight counts, and the longest stretch apart. No account needed.
Choose a pattern
Overnights (28 days)
Parent A 14 · Parent B 14
Longest stretch apart — Parent A
3 days
Longest stretch apart — Parent B
3 days
Drafting aid only — review any schedule with a legal professional before filing.
Split holidays and summer break
Alternate every holiday by year and divide the summer into even blocks. Both parents end up with the same number of overnights. No account needed.
Who takes the first holiday in odd years?
- New Year's DayJan 1Parent B
- MLK weekendJan 19Parent A
- Presidents' Day weekendFeb 16Parent B
- Spring breakMar 25Parent A
- Mother's DayMay 10Parent A
- Memorial Day weekendMay 25Parent A
- Father's DayJun 21Parent B
- Independence DayJul 4Parent A
- Labor Day weekendSep 7Parent B
- HalloweenOct 31Parent A
- ThanksgivingNov 26Parent B
- Christmas EveDec 24Parent A
- Christmas DayDec 25Parent B
- New Year's EveDec 31Parent A
Summer break
- Jun 8 – Jun 2416 nightsParent A
- Jun 24 – Jul 1016 nightsParent B
- Jul 10 – Jul 2616 nightsParent A
- Jul 26 – Aug 1015 nightsParent B
Holiday overnights
Parent A 18 · Parent B 13
Summer overnights
Parent A 32 · Parent B 31
Drafting aid only — review any schedule with a legal professional before filing.
50/50 schedules
Equal-time schedules differ mainly in how many exchanges they require and how long a child goes without seeing either parent.
- 2-2-3: two nights with A, two with B, then a three-night weekend that alternates. Five exchanges a week; best for younger children who need frequent contact, hardest on parents with rigid work schedules.
- 2-2-5-5: two nights with A, two with B, then five with each. Fixed weekdays — A always has Monday and Tuesday — which makes school routines predictable.
- 3-4-4-3: a weekly rotation totaling 50/50 with only two exchanges a week, but the weekday pattern flips each week.
- Alternating weeks: one exchange per week, usually Friday or Sunday. Simplest to run; a full week is a long gap for children under about six, so many families add a midweek dinner or video call.
Schedules with a primary residence
When one home carries the school week, the difference is in how much of the weekend and how many midweek contacts the other parent gets.
- Every other weekend: Friday to Sunday, alternating. Roughly 20% time; often extended with a midweek overnight to reach 25–30%.
- Every other weekend plus one midweek overnight: about 28% time and a common step toward shared custody.
- Extended weekend (Thursday to Monday): fewer exchanges, more consecutive time, and it moves two school mornings into the second home.
Long-distance and step-up schedules
Where the parents live hours apart, time is measured in blocks rather than weeknights: one long weekend a month, half of every school break, and several consecutive weeks in the summer. Step-up plans do the same thing across time, expanding a young child's or a re-entering parent's schedule on written dates rather than on request.
Write it so it can be enforced
Most enforcement fights are not about the pattern; they are about wording that left room to argue.
- Give exchanges a clock time and a place, not "after school" or "the usual spot".
- Say who transports on each leg, and what happens when someone is more than 30 minutes late.
- Define holidays as named date ranges with start and end times, and state which clause wins when a holiday collides with the regular rotation.
- Set a written notice window for schedule changes, vacations, and travel — and the method of notice.
- Say what a missed period entitles the other parent to: make-up time, and how soon it must be offered.
Then make the calendar do the work
Once the pattern is written down, the calendar should generate it rather than asking anyone to remember it. In CoParent Circle you enter the pattern once, the schedule builds forward with holidays applied, and any departure from it is recorded with a date and a reason as it happens — so a year later the pattern is documented instead of reconstructed from memory and screenshots.
Common questions
Which custody schedule is best for a toddler?
Younger children generally do better with shorter gaps between parents, which favors 2-2-3 or an every-other-weekend plan with a midweek overnight. The trade-off is more exchanges, which raises conflict risk if handoffs are tense — some families use a neutral exchange location for that reason.
How do I calculate my exact percentage of overnights?
Count overnights across a full two-year cycle, including holidays and summer, then divide by the total nights. Two-year counting matters because most holiday clauses alternate by year, so a single year can be several percentage points off.
Can we change the schedule without going back to court?
Parents can agree to temporary changes, but an informal agreement does not amend the order. Document the change in writing with both parents' agreement, and see a lawyer about a stipulated modification if the new pattern is meant to be permanent.
Put your schedule on a calendar that keeps the record
Enter the pattern once. Exchanges, holidays, and every departure from the order are tracked for you — and exportable as a verifiable report.
This page is general information, not legal advice. Custody standards and terminology vary by state; consult a family-law attorney licensed in your jurisdiction before relying on any schedule.