2025/10/27 by Trisha Chanda, Judith Bartfeld, Lawrence M. Berger · 1 voice
Social Sciences · Medicine · #Family Dynamics and Relationships #Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving #Reproductive Health and Technologies
paper · doi:10.1080/28375300.2025.2571342
openalex publication_date 2025/10/27 · openalex created_date 2025/10/28 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/14
Shared placement, where children live part-time with each parent after divorce, has been increasing in the U.S., but little is known about the legal or real-life stability of shared placement arrangements over the long-term. We assess the long-term stability of legal placement orders and how well de facto living arrangements conform to legal orders for children assigned to mother-sole and shared placement during divorce. Using combined survey and court record data for divorce cases assigned to shared or sole placement in Wisconsin, we conduct descriptive and multivariate analyses to compare the stability of legal placement arrangements and real-life adherence to those arrangements 6–10 years post-divorce. We find that legal changes to placement are uncommon but compared to sole placement parents, those with equal shared placement are less likely to experience a legal change, while those with unequal shared placement are more likely. Across placement groups, more than half of mothers with stable legal placement report the child’s actual living pattern differed from the legal order, usually involving more time with mothers. Because child support orders are based on legal placement orders, our findings imply that support orders for children with shared placement may become increasingly out of sync, with actual living arrangements over time.