What's in a parenting time answer
Each state page explains how that state talks about custody, whether its law starts from a presumption of joint or equal time or from the best interests of the child, what standard schedules the law or the courts use, and what happens when a parent wants to move away with a child. The calculator then turns a parenting schedule into overnights and a percentage of the year, and compares it with the thresholds that change child support in that state. Every legal figure is tied to a cited source; see our methodology for how we verify each one.
Why overnights matter for money
Many states count the number of overnights a child spends with each parent when they set child support, and some set a line above which a different formula applies. Two examples we have read in the law itself:
- Florida — a parent has a "substantial amount of time" when he or she exercises time-sharing for at least 20 percent of the overnights of the year, and that is when the guideline amount is adjusted (Fla. Stat. 61.30(11)(b)8).
- Virginia — where a party has custody or visitation of a child for more than 90 days of the year, the presumptive support is the shared custody amount, based on the ratio in which the parents share custody and visitation, unless a party shows it would be unjust or inappropriate (Va. Code 20-108.2(G)(3)).
Other states use their own thresholds and formulas. The calculator shows a state's threshold only where we have read it in the statute or the official guideline, and it says so when a state sets no number.
Custody terms and relocation differ by state
The words legal custody, physical custody, joint and sole carry different weight from state to state, and so do the rules for moving away with a child: how much notice the other parent must get, how far a move has to be before the rule applies, and who has to prove what. We do not publish a notice period or a distance for any state until we have read it in that state's statute, so each state page cites its own code section.