Co-parenting

Co-parenting is the situation in which separated parents share the care of the children roughly equally. It is not a statutory term: the law recognises only joint parental authority and the division of care and upbringing tasks, which is recorded in the parenting plan.

Legal basis

Article 1:247 of the Dutch Civil Code gives content to joint authority and requires a parent with authority to promote the child’s bond with the other parent. Article 1:253a empowers the court to resolve disputes about the division of care tasks. Article 815(3) of the Code of Civil Procedure requires a parenting plan on a divorce petition involving minor children, containing arrangements on the division of care, the exchange of information and the costs. For tax and benefits purposes, registration in the municipal personal records database is decisive even where care is shared equally; child-related budget and child benefit can however be split.

How it works in practice

The division is usually expressed as a weekly schedule, often alternating or in a five to nine day ratio. The extent of care feeds into child maintenance through the care discount: the more days a parent cares for the children, the higher the reduction in the contribution. Where care is roughly equal and incomes are comparable, little or no contribution may remain, but that follows from the calculation rather than from the label.

Where it goes wrong

Parents agree co-parenting without working through the financial consequences, and then argue about costs falling outside the schedule, such as clothing, sport and school trips. A second error is a schedule that is equal on paper but unworkable because of travel distance or working hours. Third, registration at one address is a recurring source of conflict, because benefits and sometimes school choice depend on it.