NEW LAW in 2019 | Options Added: Joint PRP or No PRP

Equal Parenting Time with Joint Primary Residential Parents

Who should be the “primary residential parent” (PRP) when the parenting plan agreement gives both parties equal parenting time? Specific reference is made to that designation under Federal law and other state laws, namely Tennessee child support. In the past, some spouses butted heads, litigating disagreements arising out of that singular PRP designation. Why elevate one parent over the other when they agreed to share parenting time 50/50?

For many parents, the PRP designation did not adequately reflect the reality of their custody arrangement for equally scheduled parenting time. Yet no legal alternative was enforceable at law. That all changed with passage of Public Chapter 83, effective July 1, 2019.

Recently amended T.C.A. § 36-6-401 could eliminate another bone of contention during custody negotiations. The new law offers clarity and alternatives. When S.B. 402 was signed into law by Governor Bill Lee, parents agreeing to a residential schedule with equal parenting time gained two more options:

• Joint primary residential parents designation, where equal means equal; or
• They may waive any PRP designation, joint or otherwise.

If parents are not in agreement on this issue, then the default requires PRP designation of one parent over the other.

When a residential schedule has the child living with a parent more than 50 percent of the time, the PRP will be the one with greater parenting time. That’s true even if by only a day. The law presumes the parent with the most parenting time is the PRP for purposes of other state and federal laws, with or without such designation in the plan agreement. Importantly, no PRP designation can impact the rights and responsibilities of either parent under the parenting plan. For precise language, see T.C.A. § 36-6-405(5) and § 36-6-401, as amended.

Another issue made less contentious by Public Chapter 83 has to do with where the child attends school. With equal parenting time, either parental address may be used to determine school zoning.