Section 9.3 Physical Custody

• Library: Family Law (2019 Supp)

B. (§9.3) Physical Custody

Joint physical custody does not require the children to spend equal amounts of time with each parent.

In Potts v. Potts, 303 S.W.3d 177 (Mo. App. W.D. 2010), the court found that joint physical custody does not require the children to spend equal amounts of time with each parent and that when the court orders significant periods when the child is in the care of each parent, the award is actually one of joint physical custody, regardless of how the court characterizes it. Id. (citing § 452.375.1, now RSMo Supp. 2018).

See LaRocca v. LaRocca, 135 S.W.3d 522 (Mo. App. E.D. 2004), in which the court articulated that the determining factor in classifying physical custody arrangements as either joint or sole is whether the periods of physical custodial...