Connecting Nests

Louisiana · Alternating weekends

Alternating weekends in Louisiana

The child lives primarily with one parent and spends every other weekend with the other. In Louisiana this is written into a Custody Implementation Plan, where time with a child is called physical custody.

Build this plan for Louisiana — free

Template for educational use — not legal advice. Consult a licensed attorney in your state. Laws change; confirm current requirements with a licensed attorney in Louisiana.

The rotation

A = one parent, B = the other. Each cell is one overnight. This rotation divides regular school-year overnights 86/14 — about 313 and 52 nights a year.
WeekMonTueWedThuFriSatSun
1 AAAABBA
2 AAAAAAA
About that numberThis figure counts the weekend rotation only. Most alternating-weekend plans also split holidays and give the other parent two to four weeks in summer, which brings the real annual share closer to 20% — the figure usually quoted for this schedule.

What Louisiana expects

Louisiana is a civil-law state with its own vocabulary: joint custody orders designate a 'domiciliary parent' with whom the child primarily resides, and an implementation plan allocates physical custody. Do not use common-law custody phrasing here.

Governing law: La. Civ. Code art. 131-136.

The honest trade-off

Long the default in American courts, and still the most common order — but twelve days can pass between weekends, and the weekend parent rarely sees a school night or a homework fight. Most plans soften it with a midweek dinner.

Other schedules in Louisiana