Shared Custody Definition: A family law support or maintenance term referring to a situation where a child spends about an equal amount of time in the care and home of each of the two separated or divorced parents, and the parents share the legal rights in regards to the child. Related Terms: Parallel Parenting, Split Custody There are as many variations of this as there are jurisdictions. Some American states call this joint physical custody or shared parenting. In Canada, the Child Support Guidelines defines shared custody (which then allows for a unique child support formula), as: "... Where a spouse exercises a right of access to, or has physical custody of, a child for not less than 40 per cent of the time over the course of a year..." Categories & Topics: Family Law Dictionary Find you are constantly looking up definitions? Try our search provider (works in most modern browsers) If you find an error or omission in Duhaime's Legal Dictionary, or if you have legal term suggestion, we'd love to hear from you!