More and more divorcing parents are choosing to share custody of their children equally. However, if that's your goal, working toward a truly equal share of your child's time may actually require having a 60-40 split. 

That's because you need to consider what's called “third-party time.” This is the time your kids are at school, in daycare or otherwise with a third party. You can work out a 60-40 split that will give you each about the same amount of time with your children in a variety of ways. 

Examples of 60-40 schedules

A 4-3 schedule involves one parent having the child from Monday through Friday, while the other parent has them from Friday after school through Monday morning when they go back to school. This gives one parent more mornings and evenings with them while the other parent has the weekends with them, which works out to about the same amount of time.

Another way to do a 4-3 schedule is for one parent to have them Wednesday through Saturday and the other parent to take them through the following Tuesday. That gives each parent their child for part of the weekend.

Maybe you have a young child who finds it hard to be away from one or both parents for very long. You can work out a 2-2-3 schedule where the child moves between homes more often. This works best when parents live close to each other.

If your goal is to have the same amount of time with your child, it's best to factor in third-party time. Otherwise, what looks like an even split can actually leave one parent with less parenting time. Of course, you'll want to factor in your own work schedule and other obligations as well.

Having experienced legal guidance can help you better work toward your parenting time goals as you negotiate a custody agreement with your co-parent.