A 50-state legal research project
The changing starting point for parenting time.
Parenting-time law is not one national rule. This Atlas opens the source file on all 50 states—showing where equal time is presumed, where it is conditional, and where courts begin somewhere else.
The national story
The central finding
States choose materially different legal starting points.
Some legislatures expressly favor equal or approximately equal time. Others direct courts toward equality only within a joint-custody order. Many retain a best-interest framework, a standard schedule, or no favored form of custody.
The distinction matters. “Joint custody,” “shared parenting,” and “equal parenting time” are not interchangeable phrases.
Reading the Atlas
EPEqual-time presumption
CDConditional equal-time direction
SRStandard schedule
JCJoint-custody framework
MMMaximization / frequent contact
BIIndividualized best interest
NPNo favored custody form
MPMinimum time below equality
JPJoint physical custody preference
EQApproximately equal-time policy
JQJudicially interpreted equal-access rule
OPOptional equal time / request protections
Complete national coverage
Alabama through Wyoming—all 50 states.
Open the authority