Connecting Nests

South Carolina · Alternating weekends

Alternating weekends in South Carolina

The child lives primarily with one parent and spends every other weekend with the other. In South Carolina this is written into a Parenting Plan, where time with a child is called visitation.

Build this plan for South Carolina — 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 South Carolina.

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 South Carolina expects

South Carolina requires the court to consider a parenting plan from each parent and enumerates best-interest factors by statute.

Governing law: S.C. Code Ann. § 63-15-240.

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 South Carolina