Children keep the house in judge's three-month-shift custody ruling

A Seville court has handed down a ruling that gives each member of a divorced couple custody of their two young children in three-month shifts.

Under the ruling, one parent will live in the family house and look after the minors for the 90-day period, while the other will live elsewhere, but have "the right and the duty to relate, communicate and meet with their children in an agreed way, endeavoring to safeguard that a healthy and flexible subsidiary paternal and maternal link is maintained."

Judge Francisco Serrano considered the decision, which was made following an evaluation by a psychosocial team, "the best parenting model in view of the family's concurrent circumstances." He added that "both mother and father are providing personal, family and social resources to adequately cover the material and emotional needs of their children" and that "they feel connected affectionately and protected and safe" with one parent as much as the other.

The three-month periods will coincide with each phase of school evaluation, with the mother staying with the children until the end of the present school year and the father taking over at the start of the next school year in September.