In the vast majority of custody cases, both parents are in a joint custody situation after a divorce. This is because the court believes that it is in the best interest of the child for both parents to stay active in his or her life even if they divorce.
However, there are multiple problems with a traditional co-parenting situation. One of the most common problems is moving the children between homes. One way to work around this issue is to choose a nesting living arrangement. Nesting involves the children staying in one home and the parents swapping in and out much like birds at a nest full of babies, as per Psychology Today.
What are the advantages?
Nesting can be a very good situation for older teenagers. Typically, the older a child gets, the less they appreciate needing to move between two separate places. A nesting situation would allow older children to stay in one spot.
Nesting can also ensure that the parents get the amount of separation they need, particularly at the beginning of a divorce. At this point, the parents may not have any post-divorce plans, so a nesting arrangement is a good temporary stopgap so as not to overly disrupt the lives of the children while the parents are initiating the divorce.
Where do the parents live?
With nesting, one parent is always in the family home. What the other parent does depends on the individual situation. In more temporary arrangements, it is common for the off-duty parent to stay with other family or friends on a temporary basis during this time.
In longer nesting situations, the parents usually will maintain a separate apartment for the off-duty parent to live in.
