📊 Shared custody models
Under Custody planner › Shared custody models you will find an overview of the most common custody arrangements after a separation. Each model shows pros and cons, a live preview as a 14-day grid and – where possible – a hint as to whether it can be set directly in Planbiene as a distribution pattern.
The models presented
🗓️ Weekly model (weekly changeover)
The child spends alternating full weeks with each parent, and the changeover takes place on a fixed weekday. This is the default pattern in the custody planner ("weekly changeover").
Available directly in Planbiene.
🔁 2-2-3 model
Two days with the father, two days with the mother, three days with the father – the following week is swapped (2 days mother, 2 days father, 3 days mother). This way, over two weeks each parent gets one long and one short weekend.
Available directly in Planbiene.
🔀 2-2-5-5 model
Two days with the father, two days with the mother, then five days in a row with the father, five days with the mother – after that the rhythm starts over. A compromise between frequent contact and larger, continuous blocks.
Available directly in Planbiene.
♻️ 3-4-4-3 model
The father has the child for three days, the mother for four days, then again four days with the father and three days with the mother – after that the rhythm starts over. Over the 14-day cycle this results in an exact 50/50 split with clearly delimited blocks.
Available directly in Planbiene.
🏠 Nesting model
It is not the child who moves, but the parents: the child stays permanently in the existing flat, and the parents move in and out there in the agreed rhythm. The rhythm itself (e.g. weekly or 2-2-3) can be represented in the custody planner as usual – what is special here is not the calendar but the fact that the parents move instead of the child.
Not stored as a pattern of its own, but can be mapped via one of the basic patterns in the custody planner.
🏡 Residence model with extended contact
Strictly speaking not a changeover model: the child has a fixed main home with one parent, and the other parent has regular contact (e.g. every other weekend plus one afternoon, and a share of the holidays).
Can be approximated via a basic pattern plus targeted swap days in the custody planner.
🔄 50/50 exclusive
A special pattern for families with exactly two children: a 4-week rhythm in which both children spend two weeks together with one parent in turn and are split up in the two intermediate weeks – this way each child gets exclusive time with each parent, 50/50 for both in total.
Available directly in Planbiene.
Live preview
Each model shows a visual 14-day grid (28 days for exclusive 50/50): blue stands for the father, pink for the mother. In models with two children an extra row per child is shown. This lets you see at once how the days are spread across the week.
What matters when choosing
The most important factors: the children's ages, the distance between the homes, the parents' ability to communicate, professional flexibility, financial situation and the child's own wishes. Some rhythms cannot be stored as a pattern – almost any rhythm can be mapped with individual swap days in the custody planner.