Compare custody schedules side by side
Pick any two schedules and see the numbers that decide it: overnights, exchanges, the longest stretch apart, and who has the weekends. Computed from a real calendar, not rules of thumb.
Choosing between schedules
How should we choose between two custody schedules?
Compare four numbers: the overnight split, the exchanges per year, the longest either parent goes without the children, and who has the weekends. Two schedules with the same split can feel completely different day to day, and the table above makes those differences concrete before you commit one of them to paper.
Do 2-2-3 and 2-2-5-5 give the same amount of time?
Yes, both are exact 50/50 splits with 182 or 183 overnights per parent per year. The difference is rhythm: 2-2-3 exchanges six times every two weeks and never leaves a parent more than three nights away, while 2-2-5-5 exchanges four times and stretches to five-night blocks with fixed weekdays.
Which schedule has the fewest exchanges?
Of the equal schedules, week-on/week-off, at 52 a year. That is half as many as 2-2-5-5 and a third as many as 2-2-3. Every other weekend, in both its standard and extended forms, also comes to 52, but those are 86/14 and 79/21 splits rather than even ones. Fewer exchanges means fewer transitions for the children and fewer chances for conflict, at the price of a full week away from each parent.
Does the comparison account for holidays?
The table shows the base pattern so the schedules stay comparable. In the builder you layer your actual holiday rotation on top and the overnight counts update, which is what the exported plan uses.
Can a court order one schedule and the parents follow another?
Parents can agree to deviate from an order day to day, but the order is what is enforceable. If the schedule you actually follow has drifted from the one on paper, that is usually the moment to file a modification so reality and the order match.
Document preparation only: not legal advice. Not affiliated with any court.