New York Custody and Parenting Time Schedule Builder

Count the overnights the children spend with each parent over a full year, divide each parent's total by the number of nights in the year (365, or 366 in a leap year) and multiply by 100. For example, 146 overnights out of 365 is 40%. This schedule builder credits each night to the parent the children are with at midnight.

A single year can be misleading when holidays alternate between even and odd years, so the schedule builder averages two years and states the result for a typical 365-night year, in whole nights. It counts every night, including holidays, school breaks, summer and one-off changes, and shows the result as nights per year, nights per week and a percentage.

Learn more: Types of 50/50 Custody Schedules | Child Custody in New York

It depends on when the weekend ends. Every other weekend from Friday to Sunday evening is 2 nights every two weeks, or 52 overnights a year (about 14%). If the weekend runs until school drop-off on Monday morning, it is 3 nights every two weeks, or 78 overnights a year (about 21%).

Adding one overnight every week, such as Wednesday, brings the total to 104 overnights (about 28%). A midweek dinner visit adds time with the children but no overnights. Holidays, school breaks and summer vacation change all of these numbers, which is why the schedule builder counts them night by night.

Learn more: Visitation in New York | Child Custody in New York

In a 365-night year, rounded to whole nights:

A 365-night year cannot be split exactly in half, so a 50/50 schedule gives one parent one extra night. Before holidays are added, common schedules land near these splits: 2-2-5-5, 2-2-3, 3-4-4-3 and alternating weeks are 50/50; every weekend from Friday to Monday morning is about 43%; every third week is about 33%; and every other weekend from Friday to Sunday is about 14%.

Learn more: Types of 50/50 Custody Schedules | Child Custody in New York

For child support, the custodial parent is the parent with the majority of the time, and courts usually measure that in overnights, but not always. The First Department, which covers Manhattan and the Bronx, has held that "the number of overnights, not the number of waking hours, is the most practical and workable approach" (Rubin v. Della Salla, 107 A.D.3d 60, 69 (1st Dep't 2013)).

The Second Department, which includes Suffolk and Nassau Counties, has held that a strict count of overnights should not decide the question when it does not reflect the reality of the situation, and it looks at the overall time each parent has with the children (Matter of Smisek v. DeSantis, 209 A.D.3d 142, 151-52 (2d Dep't 2022); Matter of Roberts v. Aurivichitaroon, 249 A.D.3d 1059 (2d Dep't 2026)). That is why this schedule builder shows hours next to overnights and flags schedules that are close to even. For federal taxes, the IRS counts nights in each calendar year, so the schedule builder shows calendar-year totals too.

Learn more: Does 50/50 Custody Affect Child Support? | Who Claims the Child on Taxes

Not the way many parents expect. New York's child support formula has no credit or reduction for parenting time, and the Court of Appeals has rejected reducing support in proportion to each parent's time (Bast v. Rossoff, 91 N.Y.2d 723, 732 (1998)).

Time matters in two ways. First, it decides who the custodial parent is: the parent with the majority of the time. When neither parent has a majority, the parent with the higher income is treated as the noncustodial parent and generally pays (Matter of Roberts v. Aurivichitaroon, 249 A.D.3d 1059 (2d Dep't 2026)). Second, if the child is not on public assistance, a court may deviate from the formula amount because of the noncustodial parent's extraordinary expenses of exercising visitation, or the noncustodial parent's expenses of extended visitation when they substantially reduce the custodial parent's expenses (DRL §240(1-b)(f)(9)). This schedule builder never says who pays. To estimate support from the parents' incomes, use our separate New York Child Support & Maintenance Calculator.

Learn more: Child Support in New York | 50/50 Custody and Child Support | New York Child Support Calculator

No. New York has no statewide standard or model schedule, and neither parent starts out with a legal right to custody (DRL §240(1)(a)). Courts set parenting time, which New York law still calls visitation, based on the best interests of the child, and parents who agree can propose their own schedule for the court to approve.

A traditional arrangement for the parent with less time is every other weekend plus a midweek visit, with holidays alternating by year. The court system's Parenting Plan form (revised June 2013) walks through the pieces of a complete schedule: the regular weekday and weekend schedule, summer, holidays, school breaks, birthdays and the number of overnights.

Learn more: Visitation in New York | Child Custody in New York

No. New York has no official schedules by age. Courts decide what serves each child's best interests based on the totality of the circumstances (Eschbach v. Eschbach, 56 N.Y.2d 167, 174 (1982)), and parents who agree can propose their own schedule for the court to approve.

How time is arranged can matter as much as the totals. The Second Department has said that how often and how regularly a parent sees the children matters more than the total number of hours (Hepheastou v. Spaliaras, 201 A.D.3d 793 (2d Dep't 2022)). It has also replaced a schedule that increased the number of exchanges, and with them the chance for conflict in front of the child, and that it found fragmented (Matter of Wright v. Metz, 225 A.D.3d 708 (2d Dep't 2024)). The statistics in your results, such as exchanges per year and the longest stretch with each parent, help you compare schedules on these points.

Learn more: Can a Child Choose Who to Live With? | New York Custody FAQ

Holidays are commonly alternated by year, so one parent has a holiday in even-numbered years and the other parent has it in odd-numbered years, while Mother's Day and Father's Day usually go to that parent every year. Holidays normally take priority over the regular schedule, and school breaks and summer often have their own rules, such as splitting winter recess in half.

Because alternating holidays make each year a little different, this schedule builder averages two years. It also works out the dates of holidays that move from year to year, including Easter, Thanksgiving, Jewish holidays, Eid, Lunar New Year and Diwali.

Learn more: Visitation in New York | New York Custody FAQ

When weekly exchanges are not practical, long-distance schedules usually give the parent who lives farther away longer blocks of time, such as most of the summer and alternating school breaks, instead of regular weekends. Choose the Long distance filter in the schedule builder to start from this kind of schedule, then adjust the summer block and school breaks to match your plan.

If a parent wants to move away with the children, the court decides whether the move serves the children's best interests, weighing factors such as each parent's reasons, the children's relationship with each parent and whether a new schedule can preserve the relationship with the parent who stays (Matter of Tropea v. Tropea, 87 N.Y.2d 727, 740-41 (1996)).

Learn more: Child Relocation in New York | New York Custody FAQ

No. It measures time only. In New York, legal custody is the right to make major decisions for a child, such as decisions about education, health care and religion. Residential custody, also called physical custody, is where the child mainly lives. Parents can share legal custody even when one parent has most of the parenting time.

The schedule builder counts overnights and hours so you can see how a schedule divides time. It does not decide custody, predict what a court will order or say who pays child support.

Learn more: Types of Child Custody in New York | What Is Residential Custody?

The results can help you prepare, but they are estimates for planning and do not predict what a court will order. The court system's Parenting Plan form (revised June 2013) asks for the number of overnights each parent will have, and the schedule summary in your results follows that form's order.

Before relying on the numbers, check the holiday and school dates against your own calendars and have an attorney review the schedule. Use Print / Save as PDF to keep a copy of the calendar, summary and worksheet.

Learn more: Preparing for a Child Custody Case in New York | Free Consultation

No. The schedule builder runs entirely in your web browser. Nothing you enter, including names, is sent to our office or stored, and nothing is saved on your device between visits, so closing or refreshing the page clears it.

Like the rest of our website, this page uses Google Analytics to count visits and which parts of the schedule builder are used, such as opening a section or printing, but never what you enter.

The link to our New York Child Support & Maintenance Calculator opens a separate tool. Nothing you enter here is passed to it.

Learn more: New York Child Support Calculator