Two-week pattern studio
Compare five common parenting patterns
Choose a pattern or filter by a practical feature. Every view uses the same repeating fourteen-night frame so the trade-offs remain comparable.
2โ2โ3 schedule
What the pattern changesFrequent handovers keep stretches short, but the weekday pattern rotates between homes.
This compares schedule mechanics only. It does not recommend what is best for a child or interpret an order, agreement, support calculation or local law.
How to read the comparison
A 50/50 label tells you how the nights add up. It does not tell you what the fortnight feels like for a child. The tool shows four things for each pattern.
- Overnight split. How many of the 14 nights are spent at each home.
- Changeovers. How many times the child moves between homes in two weeks.
- Longest stretch. The most nights in a row at either home.
- Weekday rhythm. Whether the same parent usually has the same school nights.
Look at all four together. Two schedules can share the same split and still ask very different things of a child.
Equal time can feel very different
The 2โ2โ3, 2โ2โ5โ5, alternating weeks and 3โ4โ4โ3 patterns all split the 14 nights evenly. The way they get there is not the same.
A 2โ2โ3 pattern keeps stretches short, with no more than three nights away from either parent. The cost is six changeovers every two weeks, and weekdays swap each week.
Alternating weeks sit at the other end. There are only two changeovers in the fortnight. The child also spends seven nights in a row away from each home.
The other two patterns fall in between. A younger child who struggles with long gaps and an older child with a busy school week may need very different answers.
What Australian law says about equal time
Australian family law has no rule that children must spend equal time with each parent.
When a court makes a parenting order, the child's best interests are the most important thing. The court looks at the child's safety, needs and relationships, not at a set percentage.
Many parents agree a schedule without going to court, often through family dispute resolution. If you do, write the pattern down clearly. Western Australia has its own Family Court. If you live there, check its rules.
How nights feed into child support
The child support formula uses each parent's percentage of care. It is worked out from the number of nights a child spends with each parent in a care period.
The Child Support Guide gives an example. A child who spends 290 nights a year with one parent has 80% care with that parent and 20% with the other.
Care of 14% to less than 35%, or 52 to 127 nights a year, is called regular care. A parent with regular care is treated as meeting part of the cost of the child through that care.
The every other weekend pattern in this tool gives three nights in every 14. That is about 21%, which sits in the regular care range. The equal patterns give 50%.
Your real percentage of care depends on the nights in your order, plan or actual arrangement over the year. Services Australia makes the assessment.
What the pattern leaves out
A two-week pattern is only one part of a parenting plan. A workable plan usually also covers:
- exact times and places for each handover
- school holidays, Christmas and Easter
- birthdays, special days and travel
- who does the driving
- how much notice to give for a change
- what happens when plans clash
Use the filters as a starting point for that conversation, not as an answer. They sort patterns by what they do, not by what suits your child.
The schedule is the plan. What happens is the record
Once a pattern is agreed, real life drifts from it. A changeover runs late. A weekend gets swapped. Make-up time is offered by text and never happens.
Keep the agreed schedule separate from a dated note of what actually happened. If the arrangement is ever questioned, that second record is the one people will ask for. Casewell's parenting-time log is built for that job.
Which custody schedule is best for my child?
This tool cannot tell you that. The right pattern depends on your child's age and needs, the distance between homes, school and work, and any order or agreement already in place. Use the comparison to work out what to ask, then talk it through with the other parent or an adviser.
Does Australian law start from 50/50 time?
No. The court makes parenting orders based on the child's best interests, looking at safety, needs and relationships. There is no rule that time must be split equally. Many parents agree their own arrangement instead.
How is percentage of care worked out for child support?
It is based on the nights a child spends with each parent in a care period. For example, 290 nights out of 365 is 80% care. Care of 14% to less than 35%, or 52 to 127 nights a year, is called regular care.
How many nights a year is every other weekend?
In this tool, every other weekend gives three nights in every 14, or about 21%. Over a year that is roughly 78 nights. School holiday time and extra visits will change the real number.
Is my schedule selection sent to Casewell?
No. The comparison runs in your browser and nothing you select is uploaded. If you later use Casewell, you decide what to record there.
Sources
Child support terms come from the Australian Government's Child Support Guide. Western Australia has a separate Family Court. This tool is a planning aid, not legal advice.