Parenting time calculator: overnights per year

Tick the nights the children spend with Parent A in a typical two weeks to count overnights a year and see how your state's child support guidelines treat that much parenting time.

How it works

Child support guidelines that account for parenting time almost always count it in overnights: the nights a child sleeps at each parent's home over a year. Most schedules repeat every one or two weeks, so the simplest way to count them is to take a typical two-week block, count the nights with Parent A, and multiply by 26, the number of two-week blocks in a year.

That gives 364 nights in total, so one night a year is left over. Holidays, school breaks and summer often change the pattern for a few weeks, which is what the extra and fewer fields are for: add the nights Parent A gains over the year, and subtract the nights that move to Parent B. The result is capped between 0 and 365.

The percentage is the share of the year's nights spent with Parent A. Some states express their rules as a percentage of time instead of a number of overnights, and courts often describe schedules that way too.

Common schedules

Every other weekend (Friday and Saturday nights): 52 overnights, 14.2%.
Every other weekend plus one weeknight every week: 104 overnights, 28.5%.
The same with two extra weeks in summer: 118 overnights, 32.3%.
A 2-2-5-5 schedule: 182 overnights for each parent from the pattern, about half the year.

Once you know the count, choose your state to see how its guidelines treat it. States fall into three groups: some reduce support once the paying parent reaches a threshold number of overnights, some include parenting time in the formula itself so that every night counts, and some don't adjust for parenting time at all, leaving it to the court as a reason to deviate.

Worked example

A parent who has the children every other weekend and one weeknight every week, plus two extra weeks in the summer, has 118 overnights a year. 118 overnights is at or above Alaska's threshold of 110, so its parenting-time adjustment applies. Use the button under the result to open the Alaska calculator with that number already filled in.

Parenting-time rules by state

How each state on this site treats parenting time
State	Rule
Alabama	Parenting time is part of the formula
Alaska	Adjusts from 110 overnights a year
Arizona	Adjusts from 20 overnights a year
Arkansas	Parenting time is part of the formula
California	Parenting time is part of the formula
Colorado	Parenting time is part of the formula
Connecticut	No adjustment for parenting time
Delaware	Adjusts from 80 overnights a year
District of Columbia	Adjusts from 128 overnights a year
Florida	Adjusts from 73 overnights a year
Georgia	Parenting time is part of the formula
Hawaii	Adjusts from 144 overnights a year
Idaho	Adjusts from 92 overnights a year
Illinois	Adjusts from 146 overnights a year
Indiana	Adjusts from 52 overnights a year
Iowa	Adjusts from 128 overnights a year
Kansas	Adjusts from 128 overnights a year
Kentucky	Adjusts from 88 overnights a year
Louisiana	Parenting time is part of the formula
Maine	Parenting time is part of the formula
Maryland	Adjusts from 92 overnights a year
Massachusetts	Parenting time is part of the formula
Michigan	Parenting time is part of the formula
Minnesota	Parenting time is part of the formula
Mississippi	No adjustment for parenting time
Missouri	Adjusts from 36 overnights a year
Montana	Adjusts from 111 overnights a year
Nebraska	Adjusts from 143 overnights a year
Nevada	Adjusts from 146 overnights a year
New Hampshire	No adjustment for parenting time
New Jersey	Adjusts from 101 overnights a year
New Mexico	Adjusts from 128 overnights a year
New York	No adjustment for parenting time
North Carolina	Adjusts from 123 overnights a year
North Dakota	Adjusts from 101 overnights a year
Ohio	Adjusts from 90 overnights a year
Oklahoma	Adjusts from 121 overnights a year
Oregon	Parenting time is part of the formula
Pennsylvania	Adjusts from 146 overnights a year
Rhode Island	Adjusts from 179 overnights a year
South Carolina	Adjusts from 110 overnights a year
South Dakota	Adjusts from 180 overnights a year
Tennessee	Adjusts from 92 overnights a year
Texas	No adjustment for parenting time
Utah	Adjusts from 111 overnights a year
Vermont	Adjusts from 92 overnights a year
Virginia	Adjusts from 91 overnights a year
Washington	No adjustment for parenting time
West Virginia	Adjusts from 128 overnights a year
Wisconsin	Adjusts from 92 overnights a year
Wyoming	Adjusts from 92 overnights a year

Frequently asked questions

How do I count overnights for child support?

Count the nights the children sleep at each parent’s home over a year. A schedule that repeats every two weeks repeats 26 times a year, so multiply the nights in the two-week pattern by 26, then add holiday and summer nights and subtract any nights that move to the other parent.

How many overnights is every other weekend?

Two nights (Friday and Saturday) every other week is 52 overnights a year, about 14.2% of the year. Adding one midweek overnight every week brings it to 104.

What is equal parenting time in overnights?

Half of a 365-night year is 182.5 nights. A 2-2-5-5 schedule gives each parent 182 overnights from the repeating pattern; the remaining night falls to whoever has the extra holiday night.

Why does the number of overnights matter?

Many states reduce child support once the paying parent has a set number of overnights a year, or build parenting time into the formula. Others leave it to the court. The tool shows the rule for the state you choose.

Sources

Each state's rule comes from its official guidelines, as recorded for that state on this site. See themethodology for the sources and verification date of every state.