Alternating Custody and Child Support

After a divorce or the breakdown of a relationship, a minor usually lives permanently with one parent, and that parent primarily provides daily care. However, another scenario is also possible, in which both parents are equally involved in raising the child and spend a comparable amount of time with them—this is known as alternating custody. Many people believe this solution supports a child’s better development and helps maintain strong bonds with both parents. So what exactly does alternating custody involve, and when can it be established?

What is alternating custody?

Alternating custody consists of arranging care for a child in such a way that they spend a similar amount of time with each parent. This allows both parents to be equally involved in raising the child, maintain contact with them, build strong bonds, and make decisions regarding their upbringing.

However, you will not find any specific regulations concerning alternating custody in the Family and Guardianship Code. Although the concept appears in the Act on State Assistance in Raising Children and in the Act on Family Benefits, it does so without any precise legal provisions.

Alternating custody is therefore a form of dividing parental care that has developed through practice, based on the child’s needs and concern for their well-being. What does this look like in practice? The child stays with each parent in comparable, recurring periods—for example, two weeks with the mother and the next two weeks with the father. The parent with whom the child is currently staying exercises care and covers the day-to-day costs of the child’s maintenance.

Alternating custody may apply in the case of divorced parents, parents living in separation, or after the breakdown of an informal relationship.

Importantly, due to its nature, alternating custody requires cooperation between the parents. They must jointly make important decisions concerning the child’s life and agree on logistical matters—for example, picking up the child from one parent’s home at an agreed time.

How is alternating custody established?

There are two ways to regulate alternating custody:

Parental agreement – assuming you and the other parent have an amicable relationship, you may draw up an agreement regulating the basic issues related to caring for the child, their upbringing, and the periods during which the child will stay with each of you. Such an agreement may also result from mediation or mutual negotiations.
Court decision – when deciding on alternating custody, the court will primarily consider the best interests of the child, which are paramount in such cases. Factors such as the distance between your homes and the child’s preschool or school, as well as the living conditions you can provide, will be taken into account. Very often, in cases of alternating custody, the court also seeks an opinion from the Court-Appointed Team of Specialists (OZSS).

It should be clearly emphasized, however, that even if you prepare a parental agreement, the final decision still rests with the court. The court must ensure that this form of care is consistent with the child’s best interests.

When can a court order alternating custody?

As you already know, the most important criterion for the court when deciding on custody arrangements is always the child’s best interests. The court must therefore ensure that the parenting plan you have prepared meets this requirement. To make such determinations, it may seek an opinion from an expert or from the aforementioned OZSS.

And what happens if you meet all the conditions for establishing alternating custody? The court will precisely regulate the related rules. For example, it may decide that the child will stay one week under the mother’s care and the next under the father’s care. It will usually also make detailed arrangements concerning holidays and other special periods, such as the child’s birthday, vacation time, and winter holidays.

When is alternating custody impossible?

The court will not order alternating custody if one parent’s parental authority has been limited or if it concludes that such an arrangement is contrary to the child’s best interests. Other reasons for refusing alternating custody may stem from practical considerations—for example, if the parents live in different cities, making it impossible for the child to alternate residences while fulfilling their school obligations.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of alternating custody?

The issue of caring for a child under an alternating system has both advantages and disadvantages.

As for the disadvantages, it is often mentioned that each parent must bear the costs of adapting their home to the child’s needs. There are also practical issues, such as the child constantly moving between homes, which involves remembering to transport specific items (for example, school notebooks) between the parents’ houses.

There is no doubt, however, that alternating custody also has significant advantages—and these are precisely why more and more parents choose this solution.

The first advantage is the ability of each parent to maintain a strong bond with the child. Because the child spends a similar amount of time with each parent, both of you are equally involved in their everyday life and build strong relationships.

Your child also enjoys greater freedom in contact with both mother and father—such contact is more natural and frequent. The child also has more opportunities to meet other family members, such as grandparents or uncles and aunts, on both sides of the family.

The way alternating custody is carried out also means that you can devote a similar amount of time to your child. Responsibilities related to care and upbringing are shared more evenly as well. This affects not only your mutual relationships. Studies show that alternating custody may have a positive impact on a child’s psychological and emotional development. Although the child does not live in one home with both parents, this system of care can still provide a sense of stability and security within the family—unlike many children who spend most of their time with only one parent.

Alternating custody and child support

One of the important issues in raising a child is child support. This raises the question of how this matter is handled when a child alternately stays with each parent.

First of all, alternating custody means that each parent bears the costs of maintaining and raising the child during the period when the child stays with them. As a rule, expenses are therefore shared equally. For this reason, benefits such as the “800+” child benefit should also be divided equally between the parents.

There remains the issue of other expenses, such as the costs of extracurricular activities or camp trips. In the first instance, you may decide how to share these costs yourselves. The court assumes that if you can agree on alternating custody, you will also be able to reach agreements regarding expenses. Only if this proves impossible does the court need to intervene.

And what about child support in the case of alternating custody? At first glance, it may seem that child support should not be awarded at all. After all, under this model, each of you fulfills your maintenance obligation to an equal extent, both materially (providing housing, food, and covering other costs of maintenance and upbringing) and immaterially.

However, there is one important caveat. A child has the right to the same standard of living as their parents, regardless of whether the parents live together or separately.

In practice, there is often a significant disparity in the parents’ incomes. This usually means that the less affluent parent is unable to provide the child with the same standard of living as the wealthier parent.

In such a situation, the court may award child support from the wealthier parent in order to ensure that the child enjoys a consistent standard of living, regardless of which parent they are currently staying with.

Conversely, if there is no such disparity, alternating custody will not involve child support. In such a case, requiring one parent to bear a greater share of the costs of raising and maintaining the child would be unfair.

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