When you go through a divorce and have a typical family relationship, one of the things you want to do is to make sure your child has the opportunity to grow up knowing both of his or her parents. There are not many cases where restricting visitation is truly beneficial, since children depend on both parents to learn and grow.
In Pennsylvania, shared parenting isn’t part of post-divorce legislation as of yet. While many states in the nation have moved toward shared parenting to help keep both parents an integral part of their children’s lives, Pennsylvania still hasn’t taken that step to start working toward shared parenting as a norm. Shared parenting legislation would need to be passed to help determine how it would work in the state and how it would affect child custody overall.
With shared parenting, children divide their time equally between their parents, or at least equitably, if equal time together isn’t possible. This is a common solution particularly for parents who live close together. If the child can live with each parent, visit freely and learn from them, they are left in a better position than if a child is restricted from one side of the family or placed in the primary custody of a parent despite having no reason not to visit the other parent.
If Pennsylvania passes a law for shared parenting, it would make it easier for judges to move toward shared parenting as a rule instead of as an exception. This would open more doors for shared custody that works in the eyes of law.
Source: Philadelphia Business Journal, “Pa. should consider shared parenting post-divorce legislation,” Stephen Meehan, accessed July 02, 2015