A Model Equal Parental Responsibility Presumption in Contested Child Custody

Abstract

A model rebuttable legal presumption of equal parental responsibility, defined as children spending equal amounts of time in each parent's household, in contested child custody cases, is articulated. This model, a unique hybrid of the “approximation standard” and a joint custody presumption, addresses the concerns of critics of each of these presumptions, and serves as a template for legislators and policymakers seeking to establish equal or shared parenting statutes within their jurisdictions. It also removes post-divorce family therapy from the shadows of the adversarial process. Contrary to the claims of equal parenting opponents, it is argued that jurisdictions with shared parenting statutes retaining the indeterminate “best interests of the child” standard have fallen short of full implementation of equal parental responsibility, and that mounting empirical and public support for the presumption warrants a more sustained effort in this regard. Please see here for a companion article by Edward Kruk.