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Senate Bill 2484, seeking to create a presumption of joint custody died yesterday, March 12.

This Bill which passed the Senate initially, then amended in the House, passed and sent back was ultimately not voted on and died a calendar death on 3/12/25.

It sought to require Joint Physical Custody and equal parenting time in every custody case unless the Court found a compelling reason to not grant shared parenting.

It necessarily would have put the every other weekend schedule as “standard” as outdated…

It also sought to amend child support determinations in the event joint custody was granted.

But, alas, it’s for naught. The scuttlebutt was there was an upswell of concerns about how far this proposal really went and that judges and even some family law attorneys had concerns.

Regardless, there will be no significant changes in family law this session…

Matthew Thompson is a child custody and child welfare attorney in Mississippi.

Courts usually grant custody to one parent or the other and the non-custodial parent exercises his time at places and locations he sees fit…

However, sometimes the Court needs an unusual solution to an unusual problem.

Consider the Birds Nest custody arrangement.

In a birds nest, the children stay in the “nest” aka the marital home and mom and dad take turns coming and going from the home.

During mom’s time she has custody to the children and the home, to the exclusion of dad.

During dad’s time he has exclusive custody of the kids and home and mom is excluded.

This is a good solution when the child has a unique need and having that structure of home base is in their best interest.

It’s also a viable solution when use of the home is needed by a party for work as the “home office” or tools of the trade are kept on the property.

This is not an often used remedy as it requires potentially 3 temporary residences, but can be an effective tool in the tool belt of solutions in limited circumstances.

Matthew Thompson is a child custody attorney and recommends the birds nest in unique cases.

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