Decision guidelines for shared care

The parent with greater responsibility is usually the parent who has the child for most of the time. If a parent has the child for at least 60% of the time they have the primary responsibility.

Where parents have equal time, to help you decide which parent has greater responsibility, consider the following:

• who pays for the child's material support (furniture, clothes etc)
• who decides about the child's daily activities
• who takes them to and from school and supervises leisure activities
• who makes decisions about their education and health
• who pays for which expenses

If it is not clear who has greater responsibility or the parents share the responsibility equally, the parent who was mainly responsible for the day to day care of the child before the separation is the person who can have the child included.

If you can't decide who is entitled to have the child included, the parents must make the decision. Don't include the child in any income support until they have decided.