CHILD-CUSTODY IN A CHANGING WORLD - A STUDY OF POSTDIVORCE ARRANGEMENTS IN WISCONSIN

Child custody law has changed dramatically over the past twenty-five y ears, but few have attempted to analyze the impact of these changes wi th real-world data. In this article, Professors Melli and Cancian and Ms. Brown present data on 9500 divorcing families in Wisconsin over th e time period of 1980 to 1992. Based on these data, the authors report significant increases in the use of joint legal custody and shared ph ysical custody. They find that a new custody arrangement, joint legal custody with mother physical custody, has become the norm in Wisconsin , accounting for 81 % of the cases. They also find significant differe nces in shared physical custody depending on whether the time shared i s equal or unequal and suggest further study. And finally, they recomm end consideration of legislation requiring specific visitation schedul es.