Further, Kentucky politicians’ pride for being the only shared parenting state probably will be very short-lived. Many states are considering strengthening their joint custody laws. In fact, Alabama and Iowa’s Senates have both already passed this year stronger shared parenting bills than Kentucky’s landmark law. Kentucky’s law excludes parents who are found unfit based on a “preponderance of evidence.” In other words, the court will not award a parent joint custody if it believes there is a 51 percent or greater chance the parent is unfit. The Alabama and Iowa (and soon many others I’m sure) bills award shared parenting unless the court believes the parent is unfit based on “clear and convincing evidence,” which is much higher.
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