3rd Party Time in Your Visitation Schedule

3rd party time is when your child isn't with either parent. This can be when your child is in day care or school, when they're with other relatives or even when they're sleeping.

Marking when your child isn't with a parent shows you how much time each parent really spends with the child. This can help you create a custody schedule that makes both parents happy.

Using 3rd party time in your schedule

Here are some examples of how 3rd party time changes the parenting time in a schedule. You can use a timeshare calculator to see how parenting time shifts when you exclude 3rd party time.

Example: Every extended weekend schedule

This every extended weekend schedule gives the father 60% of the time with the child and the mother 40%.

If you mark when the child is in day care, the parenting time changes so each parent has roughly 50% of the time with the child.

If you instead mark when the child is sleeping, you can see that the dad has nearly 70% of the child's waking hours, and the mom has closer to 30%.

Example: Every weekend schedule

This every weekend schedule gives the mother 70% of the time with the child and the father 30%.

When you mark the time when the child is in school, the parenting time changes so the mother has 65% of the time with the child and the father has 35%.

If you also mark the child's sleeping time, the parenting time changes again so the mother has 60% of the time with the child and the father has 40%.

Example: 4-3 schedule

This 4-3 schedule gives the father 60% of the time with the child and the mother 40%.

Adding three grandparent visits during the week changes the parenting time so the father has 55% of the time with the child and the mother has 45%.

You can arrive at roughly the same time split (55% for the dad, 45% for the mom) by marking the child's daily nap as 3rd party time.

Negotiating a schedule with 3rd party time

Calculating parenting time with 3rd party time taken into account can make it easier to agree on a schedule.

Including 3rd party time more accurately shows the quality time each parent gets with the child, so it can encourage parents to consider options they would otherwise write off.

For example, a schedule with a 60/40 parenting time divide may come closer to 50/50 if you include 3rd party time. A 70/30 divide may come closer to 60/40.

Your court may not recognize 3rd party time, but you can use it to give both parents a clear picture of their true parenting time.

The easiest way to make a 3rd party time schedule

There's a lot to think about when you build a parenting time schedule. Don't forget to include any time your child spends away from both parents.

The Custody X Change app makes this easy. Mark repeating 3rd party time when you create your custody schedule. After, you can add in occasional 3rd party time by editing your schedule.

In either approach, when you see the drop-down menu titled "Parent," choose "3rd party." The period will show up in your calendar in gray, and it will not count toward your parenting time calculations.

To make a 3rd party schedule quickly and affordably, turn to Custody X Change. You'll get a written schedule and a visual calendar that meet your family's needs, as well as court standards.