Parenting time calculator: custody percentage and overnights
Pick a common rotation or click your own fourteen nights. See overnights, the percentage split, exchanges and the longest time apart. Nothing is stored.
Calculate your parenting time
Choose a common schedule, or click each night of the two-week calendar to build your own. Every night belongs to Parent A or Parent B. The numbers update as you go, and the link you copy carries only the pattern of fourteen nights: no names, no dates, nothing about you.
Seven nights with Parent A, then seven with Parent B. One exchange a week; a full week away from each parent. Read the 50/50 custody schedule guide.
Optional. Holiday and summer nights that the holiday schedule gives Parent B on top of the rotation. They are taken from Parent A, and only the yearly figures change.
Result
- Overnights per 14 days
- A 7 · B 7
- Split (base rotation)
- 50 / 50
- Overnights per year (×26)
- A 182 · B 182
- Yearly split
- 50 / 50
- Exchanges per 14 days
- 2
- Longest stretch away
- From A: 7 nights
From B: 7 nights
Year = 26 two-week cycles (364 nights). Overnights are how most courts and child-support formulas count time, but the thresholds that matter differ by jurisdiction. This tool does not calculate child support.
Nothing is stored or sent. The link holds only the pattern (AAAAAAABBBBBBB).
Every arrangement side by side: custody schedules compared.
How the calculator counts
- Overnights per 14 days. Most schedules repeat every two weeks, so the calculator counts where the child sleeps on each of fourteen nights, starting with the Monday night of Week 1.
- Percentage split. Each parent’s nights divided by fourteen, to one decimal. Four nights of fourteen is 28.6%; the other ten are 71.4%.
- Overnights per year. The two-week count times 26, which is 364 nights. The last night of the year (two in a leap year) depends on where the calendar falls.
- Holiday and summer adjustment. Extra overnights for Parent B are added to Parent B and taken from Parent A, because a holiday schedule overrides the rotation on the days it covers. The adjustment can never give Parent B more than the whole year.
- Exchanges per 14 days. Every change from one parent to the other is a handover, including the one where the cycle starts again. A midweek dinner without an overnight is not counted.
- Longest stretch away. The most nights in a row the child spends without an overnight with each parent, again counted across the repeat.
Common schedules compared
These are the rotations described in the custody schedule guides on this site, with the figures the calculator gives for the base rotation, before holidays and summer. Parent A is the parent with more overnights, or either parent where time is equal.
| Schedule | Nights per 14 (A / B) | Split | Per year (A / B) | Exchanges per 14 | Longest apart |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alternating weeks (7-7) 50/50 | 7 / 7 | 50 / 50 | 182 / 182 | 2 | 7 nights |
| 2-2-3 50/50 | 7 / 7 | 50 / 50 | 182 / 182 | 6 | 3 nights |
| 2-2-5-5 (5-2-2-5) 50/50 | 7 / 7 | 50 / 50 | 182 / 182 | 4 | 5 nights |
| 3-4-4-3 50/50 | 7 / 7 | 50 / 50 | 182 / 182 | 4 | 4 nights |
| 4-3 (same every week) 60/40 | 8 / 6 | 57.1 / 42.9 | 208 / 156 | 4 | 4 nights |
| Wednesday and Thursday every week + alternating weekends 60/40 | 8 / 6 | 57.1 / 42.9 | 208 / 156 | 4 | 5 nights |
| Alternating weekends Friday to Monday + one midweek overnight 60/40 | 9 / 5 | 64.3 / 35.7 | 234 / 130 | 6 | 6 nights |
| Alternating weekends + one midweek overnight 70/30 | 10 / 4 | 71.4 / 28.6 | 260 / 104 | 6 | 6 nights |
| Every other weekend, Friday to Monday 80/20 | 11 / 3 | 78.6 / 21.4 | 286 / 78 | 2 | 11 nights |
| Every other weekend, Friday to Sunday 86/14 | 12 / 2 | 85.7 / 14.3 | 312 / 52 | 2 | 12 nights |
Few real schedules land on a round number. A 60/40 split over a year would be about 219 and 146 nights, but the usual rotations give 8 of 14 nights (57.1/42.9) or 9 of 14 (64.3/35.7). A 70/30 split would be about 255 and 110 nights; alternating weekends plus one midweek overnight gives Parent B 4 of 14 nights, 104 a year, and holidays and summer usually close the gap.
Why overnights, and what this does not calculate
Overnights are how most courts, parenting plans and child-support formulas count parenting time: where the child sleeps is clear, easy to record and hard to dispute. Some places count days, hours or blocks of time instead, and the thresholds that matter (for example the number of overnights at which a schedule is treated as shared, or at which a support formula changes) differ by jurisdiction.
This calculator does not compute child support and does not apply any state or country formula. It gives you the counts. What those counts mean where you live is a question for the guideline or statute there, or for a family lawyer.
A schedule is more than its percentage. Two rotations with the same split can feel completely different to a child: one with a single handover a week, another with three. The exchanges and the longest stretch away are there so you can see that difference, not only the ratio.
From two weeks to a full year
The two-week rotation is only the base. Thanksgiving, winter break, spring break, birthdays and summer usually follow a separate holiday schedule that takes priority on the days it covers. Two weeks of summer and a share of school breaks can add twenty nights or more a year to one parent, which moves the annual split by several points.
To include them, count the extra overnights the holiday schedule gives Parent B over a year and enter that number as the adjustment. When you compare two proposals, compare full-year totals. Once a schedule is running, keep a dated record of what actually happens; the custody journal shows a format that stays factual.
What this is not
- It is not a child-support calculator, and it does not apply any jurisdiction’s formula or threshold.
- It is not a recommendation. Which schedule suits a child depends on age, the distance between the homes, work patterns and the level of conflict; the schedule guides discuss each of these.
- It is not a record of anything. Nothing you click is stored or sent. The only thing that leaves this page is a link you choose to copy, and it contains the fourteen-night pattern and nothing else.
- Nothing here is legal advice. Procedure, deadlines and the names of institutions differ from country to country; a lawyer who practises family law where you live is the person to ask.
Questions people ask
How do I calculate custody percentage?
Count each parent’s overnights over the full repeating cycle, usually fourteen days, and divide by the total number of nights. Four nights out of fourteen is 28.6%, and the other parent’s ten nights are 71.4%. For a yearly figure, multiply the two-week count by 26 (364 nights), then add the holiday and summer nights that override the regular rotation.
How many overnights is 50/50, 60/40, 70/30 and 80/20?
50/50 is 7 of 14 nights each, 182 a year. An exact 60/40 is about 219 and 146 nights a year; the common 4-3 rotation gives 8 of 14 nights (208 and 156 a year, 57.1/42.9), and alternating weekends Friday to Monday plus a midweek overnight gives Parent B 5 of 14 (130 a year, 64.3/35.7). An exact 70/30 is about 255 and 110; alternating weekends plus one midweek overnight is 4 of 14 nights, 260 and 104 a year (71.4/28.6). An exact 80/20 is about 292 and 73; alternating weekends from Friday to Monday is 3 of 14 nights, 286 and 78 a year (78.6/21.4).
Does holiday time count toward parenting time?
Yes. Overnights during holidays, school breaks and summer count like any other night, and a holiday schedule normally overrides the regular rotation on the days it covers. That is why the annual split often differs from the two-week split by several points. Add those nights with the holiday and summer adjustment and compare full-year totals.
Why count overnights and not hours?
Most courts, parenting plans and child-support formulas count parenting time in overnights, because where the child sleeps is clear and easy to record. Some jurisdictions count days or hours instead, and the thresholds that matter differ from place to place, so check the rules where you live. This calculator does not compute child support.
Is this calculator legal advice?
No. It is general information: it counts the nights in a pattern you choose and nothing more. Custody law, the way time is counted and the effect of any split all vary by jurisdiction. For your own case, ask a family lawyer where you live.
Related tools
Underneath Divorce
“Underneath Divorce” is a book in progress by Miroslav Ćurčić about high-conflict divorce and custody disputes, and the pattern that turns ordinary arrangements like these schedules into long fights. The other tools on this site come from it.
About the book →This tool is general information, not legal advice. Custody law varies by jurisdiction.