September 19, 2019 by Matt Hancock
The last 17 months have been nothing short of historic for the state of Kentucky and the topic of shared parenting. On April 26, 2018, Gov. Matt Bevin signed the nation’s first, true shared-parenting law, which provides children of divorce/separation a rebuttable presumption of joint custody and equal shared-parenting time with both parents, as long as they are fit and able caregivers. To celebrate and emphasize this amazing achievement, on April 26 of this year, Bevin issued a proclamation to establish this day as Shared Parenting Day in Kentucky.
As momentum from the new law has swept across the state, we have learned that it’s one of the most popular laws we have. A recent poll in Kentucky by National Parents Organization asked the question, “Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: A child would benefit from having equal time with both fit parents following divorce?” The results were a staggering 84% answering “yes.” In addition to its popularity, the new law has seen decreased conflict in family court since it went into effect. Family court filings are down 11%, and domestic violence claims are down 445 cases.
This is all great news because as a proud Kentuckian, I always hate hearing when our state is ranked last or near the bottom in any given statistical category. And it was no different back in 2014 when National Parents Organization released its Shared Parenting Report Card grades. Kentucky came in with a D-, which was good for 48th best in the nation at that time.
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