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CustodyPlan

Parenting Time Calculator

Pick your schedule and get the exact annual overnight count and percentage for each parent, the numbers court forms and state support calculators ask for.

Calculate your parenting time

Choose your pattern, set the start date, then switch on holidays to see the real annual figure.

Schedule pattern

50/50

Each parent keeps the same two weekdays every week and the weekends alternate, producing a repeating 2-2-5-5 night pattern.

January 2026

  • Parent A
  • Parent B

Tap any night to switch parents.

Parenting time is measured in overnights, not hours. A night belongs to whichever parent the child sleeps with, counted whole, with no fractions and no credit for daytime contact however long it lasts.

That convention is what almost every state child-support formula is built on, and it's what most court forms ask for. Tennessee's permanent parenting plan form asks for days per year with each parent; Nevada treats an arrangement as joint physical custody when each parent has the child at least 40% of the time, about 146 days a year, counted in days rather than overnights; most guideline calculators take an overnight count as a direct input.

This calculator gives you that number for a full calendar year, including the holiday rotation if you switch it on.

How the calculation works

The calculator resolves every night of the year individually rather than multiplying a weekly average, because averages hide the parts that matter.

  • The repeating pattern assigns a parent to each night from your start date
  • School breaks override the pattern for their date ranges
  • Named holidays override school breaks, Christmas Day beats 'winter break, second half'
  • Any nights you've moved by hand override everything
  • The result is counted, not estimated, so it's exact for the year shown

Why the label and the number often differ

A 4-3 schedule is universally described as 60/40. It's actually 57/43. An arrangement labeled 80/20 is often a plain alternating-weekend schedule, which is really 86/14; the extended Friday-to-Monday version is the one that actually reaches 79/21. A '50/50' plan with an unbalanced holiday rotation can come out at 49/51 or worse.

None of those gaps matter in conversation. All of them can matter in a support calculation. Use the number the calendar produces, not the shorthand.

What this calculator doesn't do

It doesn't calculate child support. Support formulas vary substantially between states and depend on both parents' incomes, health-care and childcare costs, other children, and several state-specific adjustments. Producing a dollar figure would require making assumptions we can't verify about your situation.

What it does is produce the overnight input those formulas need, computed exactly. Take that figure to your state's official calculator or to your attorney.

Leap years and the odd night

A calendar year is not a whole number of two-week cycles, so an equal schedule almost never splits it perfectly. In a 365-night year one parent gets 183 and the other 182, and which one depends on your start date. A leap year has 366 nights, but the two spare nights usually land on the same side, so for most start dates it comes out 184 and 182 rather than 183 each.

Change the year in the calculator to see how it falls for each year of your plan.

Common questions

How do you calculate parenting time percentage?
Count each parent's overnights across a full year, including the holiday rotation, then divide by 365 and multiply by 100. Nights are counted whole and assigned to whichever parent the child sleeps with.
How many overnights is 50/50 custody?
182 or 183 nights each in a normal year, with the odd night going to whichever parent the rotation lands on. A leap year has 366 nights, but 366 is not a whole number of two-week cycles either, so for most start dates it comes out 184 and 182 rather than 183 each.
Does this calculate child support?
No. Support formulas differ by state and depend on income and several other factors. This tool produces the overnight count and percentage those formulas need as an input.
Do holidays change my parenting time percentage?
Yes, sometimes substantially. Holidays override the regular schedule, so they move nights that the pattern had already allocated. At the lower end of the scale a holiday rotation can add 40% to a parent's annual total.
What counts as an overnight?
The night a child sleeps at a parent's home. It's assigned to the date the night begins. Daytime visits, however long, don't count in most states' calculations.

Document preparation only: not legal advice. Not affiliated with any court.