Shared custody · Housing · Children's expenses

Shared custody with temporary birdnesting and unequal incomes

How do you propose a divorce When both parents want to continue taking care of their children, one has variable work schedules and the home belongs to only one? one civil claim With these characteristics it allows us to see how a proposal for custody and economic organization.

The starting point was to maintain the care of both

According to the lawsuit, the parents continued to share the home and care of the children during the breakup. After not reaching a agreement regulator, the contentious divorce together with interim measures. The proposal sought to transform this daily participation into a system of alternating weeks.

The starting argument was concrete: the breakup of the couple had not meant, according to the person suing, that one of the parents would stop caring for the minors. This prior organization was invoked to defend that both could assume complete periods of coexistence.

How custody with variable schedules was justified

One of the central points was the compatibility between work and childcare. The lawsuit alleged a reduction in working hours and a certain ability to organize rest days. To support this, company documentation was provided on working conditions and availability.

Thus, the request did not rest solely on expressing the desire for shared custody. He tried to explain what time the parent would have and how he could care for the minors during his week. An evaluation was also requested from the psychosocial team regarding the suitability of both of them to care for the children.

A calendar that went down to detail

Alternate weeks were proposed with pick-up at the school, an afternoon of contact with the other parent and specific rules for long weekends and vacations. It was also contemplated where to make the delivery if a minor did not attend class and the possibility of a designated person carrying out the collection.

The practical interest of these clauses is to anticipate frequent situations: a day without school, a work shift or a holiday linked to the weekend. The details must be consistent throughout the proposal and respond to the needs of the minors.

The birdnesting arrangement was planned as a transition

The housing proposal had two stages. For a limited initial period, the children would remain in the family home and the parents would alternate there according to their turn of custody. Afterwards, the minors would live alternately in the home of each parent.

This system, known as birdnesting arrangement, was requested to facilitate the children's adaptation to the separation. The lawsuit did not present it as an indefinite organization: it provided that the subsequent use of the home would correspond to its owner and that the other parent would have an alternative home.

The private ownership of the property and the mortgage burden were part of the reasoning of the person suing. The financial effort that it would entail to maintain the mortgage and also face another home was alleged. That was the justification for the request; It does not allow us to affirm that the use must be automatically recovered due to ownership.

To evaluate a formula of this type, very specific questions must be resolved: where each adult will live outside of their turn, who will pay for supplies and maintenance, how the home will be delivered, and what will happen at the end of the transitional stage. The period requested in a lawsuit does not constitute a rule applicable to other families.

Sharing care did not imply contributing the same

The proposed economic organization distinguished two blocks. Each parent would directly take care of the children's daily expenses during their period of cohabitation. For certain common expenses, a joint account would be opened, with different monthly contributions depending on the alleged income of each person.

The demand proposed that those who had greater economic capacity would earn a higher proportion. Bills and shared expenses would be paid from that account. The approach allows us to understand why distributing cohabitation time equally does not require formulating an identical economic distribution.

To support the requested amounts, the document included lists of family and minor expenses, along with financial documentation. He also asked to obtain information about the other parent's remuneration, work life and tax returns. It was not enough, therefore, to indicate that there was a difference in income: the aim was to prove it and quantify the needs.

Extraordinary expenses had their own proposal

For expenses classified in the claim as extraordinary, a distribution in half was requested and, unless urgent, prior communication of the concept and its amount to obtain the approval of both. It was a different proposal from the proportional distribution planned for the common account.

When adapting clauses like this, it is advisable to specify what expenses are included and how they will be authorized. The classification that a part of an activity or treatment makes does not in itself make that expense extraordinary, nor does its proposed distribution become an obligation already in force.

Rules were also proposed to jointly decide

The request of parental responsibility joint was accompanied by a list of relevant decisions: residence, schooling and medical treatments, among others. For everyday issues, it was proposed that the parent with whom the minors were with decide, respecting their routines.

In addition, it was contemplated to inform the other about health and travel and to resort to a judicial decision in the event of relevant discrepancies. The purpose of these provisions was that the weekly alternation would not leave communication and decisions that affect both households unregulated.

Debts were treated separately from alimony

The document distinguished the contribution to the needs of the children, the expenses associated with housing and the payment of a loan signed by both spouses. For the latter, a distribution in half was requested.

This separation is relevant when preparing the claim: it allows you to identify what is requested regarding each obligation and on what basis. A proposal on distribution between spouses also requires examining the corresponding contract and its effects on the creditor entity.

Why interim measures were requested

The lawsuit requested that custody, temporary use of the home, contributions for the children and payment of the loan be organized during the divorce process. The aim was to have rules while the final measures were being resolved.

The interim measures requested together with the lawsuit are provided for in article 773 of the Civil Procedure Law. Your request opens an issue that the court must resolve; The conditions drawn up by one party do not become mandatory simply because they appear in the document.

What does this assumption contribute to other families?

The value of this proposal is in connecting care with real schedules, foreseeing a housing transition and differentiating the expenses that each parent would pay directly from those that would be covered from a common account. Its viability depends on the test and family circumstances.

Custody must be assessed taking into account the best interest of minors. A well-detailed application allows you to examine how the proposed organization would work; does not guarantee that the court will find it appropriate or approve all its conditions.

Advice on housing custody and children's expenses

If your separation involves schedules that are difficult to reconcile, a home of exclusive ownership or significant differences in income, at matrimonialistas Abogados you can consult how to prepare a proposed measure tailored to your family and what documentation you need to support it.

Informative information on Spanish common law. The regulations applicable to each family and their specific situation must be assessed.

Legal references

Civil Code, articles 92, 93, 96 and 103. BOE: Consolidated text of the BOE ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Civil Procedure Law, article 773. BOE: Consolidated text of the BOE ↗ (opens in a new tab)