Missouri Custody Schedules

Missouri's Equal-Time Starting Point

Since Senate Bill 35 (August 2023) and SB 1026 (August 2024), Missouri courts presume that substantially equal parenting time is in the child's best interests. That means whichever schedule you propose needs to start close to 50/50 unless you have evidence that equal time wouldn't work — distance between homes, domestic violence, or a work schedule that makes it physically impossible.

The schedule also directly affects child support. Missouri's Form 14 worksheet uses a Line 11 overnight adjustment credit: more overnights with the paying parent means a lower child support obligation. A true 50/50 split (roughly 182 overnights) triggers the maximum 34% presumptive credit.

Alternating Weeks (7/7)

Each parent has the child for a full week, transitioning Friday after school or Monday morning.

Overnight count: 182–183 per year, per parent.

Works well for: Children roughly ten and older who handle longer separations well. This schedule minimizes direct parental contact, making it practical for high-conflict cases. It also gives both parents full weekdays and full weekends in their respective weeks.

Watch out for: The seven-day gap between visits can be hard on younger children. Both parents must live within the same school district, or transportation becomes unworkable during the school week. Mid-week dinner visits are common add-ons to shorten the gap.

2-2-5-5 Schedule

Parent A always has Monday and Tuesday. Parent B always has Wednesday and Thursday. Weekends (Friday through Sunday) alternate.

Overnight count: 182–183 per year, per parent.

Works well for: School-age children whose parents need predictable weekday assignments. The fixed weekday pattern means teachers and coaches always know which parent handles Monday pickup and which handles Wednesday homework. Both parents get full weekends every other week.

Watch out for: The off-weekend stretch means one parent goes five consecutive days without seeing the child. For younger children, that gap can feel long. The trade-off for predictability is rigidity — swapping a single weekday disrupts the pattern.

Every-Other-Weekend Plus Midweek Visit

The child lives primarily with one parent during the week and spends alternating weekends (Friday evening through Sunday evening) with the other parent, plus one midweek evening visit.

Overnight count: Roughly 80–90 per year for the non-residential parent.

When it applies: This is the most common arrangement when 50/50 is rebutted — one parent has a work travel schedule that prevents weeknight responsibility, the parents live more than 50 miles apart, or the court finds that the child's stability requires a primary home base. The parent seeking this arrangement must show evidence that equal time isn't feasible, since the 50/50 presumption applies.

Child support effect: With fewer than 110 overnights, the Line 11 credit is 18% or less. The difference in child support between this schedule and a true 50/50 arrangement can be substantial.

Holiday and Summer Schedules

Missouri law requires every parenting plan to include specific holiday provisions. Courts expect alternating assignments, not vague language like "parents will share holidays."

A typical holiday rotation alternates major holidays by odd/even year:

• Thanksgiving and Christmas: Parent A gets Thanksgiving in odd years and Christmas Eve through Christmas Day at noon in even years. Parent B gets the opposite. Winter break splits evenly.
• Spring break: Alternates by year.
• Summer: The non-residential parent (or, in a 50/50 arrangement, both parents) typically gets an extended block of two to four consecutive weeks. The plan must specify exact start and end dates and which regular-schedule provisions the summer block overrides.
• Mother's Day and Father's Day: Each parent has the child on their respective day regardless of the regular rotation.
• Birthdays: Many plans give the birthday parent time from after school through bedtime or the following morning.

Holiday provisions override the regular rotation, so write them precisely. A plan that says "holidays alternate" without specifying which parent gets which holiday in which year is exactly the kind of vagueness Missouri judges reject.

Building Your Schedule

The schedule you write into Form CAFC501 becomes a court order. Changing it later requires a court-approved modification based on changed circumstances and the child's best interests under RSMo § 452.410. Getting the schedule right before filing saves time, legal fees, and the stress of relitigating something that could have been settled from the start.

The Missouri Child Custody & Parenting Plan Guide includes scheduling worksheets for each common rotation, holiday alternation templates, and an overnight-count calculator that shows exactly how your chosen schedule affects the Form 14 Line 11 credit.

See more Missouri guides →