Alternating residence for children after parental separation: Recent findings from Belgium

Abstract

In recent decades there have been two significant legislative amendments to shared parenting in Belgium. In 1995, joint exercise of parental responsibilities was introduced as the default legal position. In 2006, the legislation required that in all cases of joint parenthood in which parents could not agree on children’s living arrangements, equally divided alternating residence must first be considered by the judge. In this article, we summarize recent research findings from Belgium about alternating residence for children. There has been a fourfold increase in alternating residence, and families in these arrangements became increasingly diverse. Compared to children living exclusively with their mothers, children in alternating residences report a better relationship with their father, while mothers report a more active personal social life. For children, alternating residence is found to be more challenging under certain conditions (e.g. no communication between parents).