What’s nesting?
Nesting is a child centered custody arrangement that allows children to remain in one home despite a joint physical custody agreement. This is how it usually works:
- Mom and Dad share joint custody of their children
- Mom and Dad maintain a home where their children live full time
- Mom and Dad maintain one or two additional homes or apartments
- When the children are in Mom’s physical custody, Mom lives/stays in the children’s home with the children and Dad lives/stays away from the home
- When the children are in Dad’s physical custody, Dad lives/stays in the children’s home with the children and Mom lives/stays away from the home
Why do people choose nesting as a child custody alternative? The three most common reasons I have seen are:
- Parents want to minimize the disruptiveness of divorce on their children
- It costs less to have one house large enough to house several children instead of two
- The children’s residence is located in the children’s school district and close enough for the children to walk to and from school or catch the school bus
Nesting is a relatively new arrival on the mainstream child custody scene in California and I have seen couples reject it for two common reasons:
- Mom and Dad do not want anything to do with each other and as such, will not share a living space even intermittently
- Mom and Dad do not want to share a second home or apartment and cannot afford to maintain three homes (one for the children, one for mom and another for Dad)
To date I have never seen a California family law judge order parents to nest with their children, but I know they’ve encouraged it during court settlement conferences.
If you want to know more and whether a nesting child custody arrangement is a good option for you, schedule a consulting session below.
