Wisconsin Physical Placement Schedules (Visitation)

A physical placement schedule is the part of your parenting plan that details when your child lives and spends time with each parent.

Parents can agree on a schedule in a settlement, or they can allow the court to choose a schedule at trial based on proposals they submit in advance.

Types of placement

Shared placement, which gives each parent at least 25 percent of their child's time over a year, is most common. In fact, a 2018 Custody X Change study found Wisconsin parents tend to split time with their child equally, whereas fathers in other states are likely to receive about 35 percent of parenting time.

Primary placement grants one parent more than 75 percent of their child's time. (This is what courts award in paternity cases if parents don't request otherwise.)

The rarest arrangement, split placement, gives each parent primary placement of one or more children.

Making a schedule

A schedule is a required component of your parenting plan. It must specify where your child will be on regular weekdays and weekends, plus during school breaks and holidays.

If you're using Wisconsin's Proposed Parenting Plan template, you can fill in a two-week rotation and check off which parent gets particular holidays each year.

Or you can attach a more-detailed schedule — and, ideally, a custody calendar — to the template. Make these on your own or with the Custody X Change app, which lets you customize popular schedules and lay holidays on top.

If you use Custody X Change to make your entire plan, your schedule selections automatically show up in the plan.

Other details to consider

When making a schedule, consider your child's unique needs and your own. For example, parents in the military need schedules suitable for when they're away on duty and when they're home. Also, review age-based guidelines so your arrangement fits your child's developmental stage.

Usually, siblings follow one schedule, but it's possible for each child to have their own.

Be aware that each parent's percentage of annual time with a child affects the child support they pay or receive.

To get a more accurate count of each parent's time, you can ignore periods when the child isn't with either parent. This so-called third-party time may be when the child is at school, visiting a grandparent, etc.

Common schedules

2-2-3

Among schedules with equal parenting time, the 2-2-3 schedule is most common. The child lives with one parent for two days, spends the next two days with the other parent, and then returns to the first parent for three days. Each week the start parent switches so that the timeshare evens out over two weeks.

8-6

Also popular in Wisconsin, the 8-6 schedule has your child spend a placement period of eight days with one parent, then six days with the other. This creates roughly a 60/40 time split between the parents.

4-3

The 4-3 schedule is another 60/40 option. It has your child spend four days a week with one parent and three days with the other parent.

Alternating weekends

Suitable for primary placement, the 80/20 split in the alternating weekends schedule has your child visit the nonprimary parent every other weekend.

Daytime visits only

If one parent has a history of crime, violence or substance abuse, the court may restrict them to daytime placement periods. This daytime only schedule gives the parent about 10 percent of parenting time.

The easiest way to make a schedule

If you're like most parents, creating a physical placement schedule will feel daunting. How do you make something that meets legal requirements and doesn't leave any loose ends?

The Custody X Change app makes it easy. Either customize a schedule template, or click and drag in your custody calendar to make a schedule from scratch.

The combination of a visual and written schedule means your family will have no problem knowing who has the child when. Take advantage of Custody X Change to make your schedule as clear and thorough as can be.