Figure 3.5 Type of Custody Arrangements (as defined by the Guidelines)

Figure 3.5 presents the type of custody arrangement in each case according to the definitions of custody provided in the Guidelines, which refers mainly to principal residence of the children. In the majority of cases (79.3 percent), the mother had sole custody; fathers had sole custody in 8.7 percent of cases. Shared custody (the child spends at least 40 percent of the time with each parent) was 6.2 percent. Split custody (one or more children have primary residence with the mother and one or more children have primary residence with the father) was 5 percent. This classification is based on terms used in the federal Guidelines. In some of the “sole custody” cases, there was a form of legal joint custody or joint guardianship, but the child did not spend at least 40 percent of the time with each parent, hence under section 9 of the Guidelines this did not qualify as “shared custody.”