Dedicated Legal Counsel On Your Side

Will courts ever split up children in a custody case?

On Behalf of | Feb 4, 2025 | Child Custody

There’s a movie called The Parent Trap where two twins discover that they were separated by their parents. After divorcing, each parent took one child and never told them about their twin, leading to an unexpected revelation.

While this makes for an interesting movie, in real life, courts are very unlikely to order split custody. Although it does technically exist and can happen in some cases, courts typically prioritize the best interests of the child, which often means keeping siblings together. This helps maintain their sibling relationships and also ensures they both maintain a relationship with each parent.

What will courts do instead?

When both parents want custody, rather than splitting up the children and giving each parent primary custody of a different child, the court is more likely to grant shared custody on an alternating schedule. For example, the father may have both children for one week, and the mother may have both children the following week.

Why are there rare exceptions?

There are rare exceptions to this rule, but only if the court determines that split custody is truly in the child’s best interests.

For example, the court may consider split custody if:

  • There is significant conflict between the siblings, making it unsafe or unhealthy for them to live together.
  • Educational opportunities are only available if the children live in different homes—for instance if each child wishes to attend a different school and needs to live with the parent in that school’s district.

However, in general, split custody is almost never used. Instead, parents should consider their rights to shared custody and explore all of their legal options as they navigate the divorce process.

Archives

Categories