60/40 Custody Schedules

Close to equal, with one clear primary home, and the arithmetic behind the label.

Also written as 60 40 custody schedule, 60/40 parenting plan.

Overnight split: 57/43
Cycle length: 7 days
Exchanges: 2 per cycle
Longest gap: 4 nights

See 4-3 on a calendar

Change the start date, swap which parent begins, or tap a night to move it. The overnight counts update as you go.

Schedule pattern

Majority time

Four nights with one parent and three with the other, repeating every week, the most common way to build a 60/40 split.

January 2026

Parent A
Parent B

Tap any night to switch parents.

A 60/40 split means one parent has roughly 219 overnights a year and the other roughly 146. It's the most common landing point for families who want substantial shared parenting but have a practical reason for one primary home.

There is no standard weekly pattern that lands exactly on 60/40. The 4-3 schedule, which almost everyone calls 60/40, is really 57/43. A two-week 9-5 split is 64/36. Getting to a true 60/40 means building a custom cycle, which the tool below lets you do, showing the percentage as you paint the nights.

If the exact figure matters for a child-support calculation, work from the overnight count rather than the label.

How 4-3 works

4-3 weekly: the usual answer

Four nights with one parent, three with the other, every week. 57/43, two exchanges a week, completely predictable. This is what most people mean by 60/40.

Alternating 4-3 and 5-2: closer to the number

Nine nights out of fourteen is 64/36; eight out of fourteen is 57/43. Alternating between them across a four-week cycle averages out at almost exactly 60/40. Build it in the custom editor if the precision matters.

Every other weekend, heavily supplemented

Starting from alternating weekends and adding two midweek overnights a week plus half the school holidays also lands in the 60/40 region, and can be easier to negotiate because it reads as an extension of a familiar pattern.

Deciding between this and another pattern? Put them side by side in the custody schedule comparison tool, check your exact numbers with the parenting time calculator, and when the schedule is settled, turn it into a court-ready parenting plan.

Pros and cons

What works well

One clear primary residence for school enrollment and paperwork
The non-primary parent still gets substantial, regular time
Fewer exchanges than most equal schedules
Often easier to agree than a straight 50/50

What to watch for

No standard pattern hits 60/40 exactly
The label and the real percentage frequently differ
Can feel like a compromise neither parent wanted

When 60/40 is the right target

When both parents are capable and involved but one is better placed for school-week logistics, because of work hours, distance from school, or simply because that's how the family already ran. It gives the second parent far more than a visitation schedule without demanding the symmetry of a 50/50 arrangement.

How it compares

The same figures for the schedules parents usually weigh against this one.

Schedule	Split	Cycle	Exchanges	Longest gap
4-3This page	57/43	7 days	2 / cycle	4 nights
3-4-4-3	50/50	14 days	4 / cycle	4 nights
Every other weekend + midweek	71/29	14 days	6 / cycle	6 nights
2-2-5-5	50/50	14 days	4 / cycle	5 nights

Common questions

How many overnights is 60/40 custody?

About 219 nights for the primary parent and 146 for the other, out of 365. If you're using this for a support calculation, check the exact number your schedule produces rather than assuming the label is accurate.

Is a 4-3 schedule 60/40?

Not quite. It's 57/43. Four out of seven nights is 57.1%. It's called 60/40 as convenient shorthand.

What is the difference between 60/40 and 50/50?

Roughly 36 overnights a year, which is about three nights a month. In practical terms it usually means one parent has every weekend, or a fixed extra weeknight, rather than the two sides being symmetrical.

Does 60/40 affect child support?

In most states, yes, overnight share is an input into the formula. How much difference it makes varies enormously between states. Take your overnight count from this tool to your state's official calculator.

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