Kentucky’s Default Joint Custody and Equal Parenting Time: Special Interest Lobbying in Child Custody

Abstract

Until recently, the universal standard for child custody determinations in the United States was the ‘best interests of the child’ standard. Kentucky recently became the first state to adopt a default standard that deviates from that standard by making joint custody and equal timeshare the statutory default. The statute was amended with almost no legislative discussion and sailed through passage and signing by the governor within three months at the urging of the National Parents Organization (NPO), formerly the Foundation for Fathers and Families. The statute’s proponents claim it equalizes parents under the law and removes biases in favor of mothers. The NPO has a nationwide agenda to pass this type of legislation in every state. However, this paper demonstrates that joint custody and equal timeshare is not appropriate for some types of families and a default standard could end up harming these children. As other states are under pressure from the NPO, this paper provides examples of states that have fought off or amended the statutory language to be more protective of families. The best interests of the child standard is far from perfect, but supplanting it with a default standard of joint custody and equal parenting time creates new and potentially dangerous issues for the children forced to endure it, not because of a thoughtful concerted effort to improve the child custody standards, but because of the NPO’s successful lobbying efforts.