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Joint Custody Rules
Periods of time spent in the home of the parent who is not the caretaker parent will be considered temporary absences. The EW must see a copy of the divorce decree to verify custody time periods.
When a child stays for alternate periods of one month or less with each of his/her parents who are separated or divorced, the following rules apply:
- The parent with whom the child stays for the majority of the time is the caretaker relative in most instances. The temporary absence of the parent or the child from the home does not affect this determination.
- The parent with whom the child stays for less than the majority of the time may be the caretaker relative, if that person can establish that he/she has majority responsibility for care and control of the child.
When the child spends an equal amount of time with each parent and each parent exercises an equal share of care and control responsibilities, the parent who applies for aid will be the caretaker relative, provided that the child's other parent is not currently applying for or receiving aid for the child.
When both parents exercise equal day-to-day care and control responsibilities, and both have applied for aid for the child, the caretaker parent must be determined in the following order:
| IF... | THEN the caretaker parent must be... |
| There is a court order, | The parent designated as the primary caretaker for purposes of public assistance. |
| No court order designation exists and only one parent would be eligible for aid, | The parent who would be eligible. |
| No court order designation exists and both would be eligible, | designated by the parents. |
| The parents cannot agree on the designation of a caretaker, | The parent who first applied for aid for the child. |
Note: The parent who has been determined to be the caretaker parent of a child who stays with the other parent for alternating periods of one month or less must remain the caretaker parent during the period when the child is with the other parent.
Alternating Periods of One Month or More
When a child stays for alternating periods of one month or more with different individuals who are not living together, the caretaker parent must be determined as follows:
- The individual who applies for aid and meets the requirements of a caretaker parent, or
- When more than one person applies for aid and could meet the requirements of a caretaker parent, the caretaker parent must be the individual with whom the child stays on the first of each month for which aid is provided.
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