As long as there has been divorce (perhaps even before that) communities have wrestled with how to ensure that children of a union are properly taken care of. For the vast majority of the time it seems, the scales of the courts have tended to favor granting custody of children to the mother. That's certainly been true in Virginia. It's common around the world.

In recent decades, especially in more progressive jurisdictions, there has been something of a move toward making the default model some form of a 50-50 arrangement of shared child custody between divorcing parents. But now some of the apparent flaws in that ideal are prompting questions, as evidenced by a unanimous decision out of Denmark.

There, lawmakers from all political parties agreed last week that it's time to abandon the current default 50-50 custody model in favor of a law that emphasizes the emotional well-being of the children.

The current system, in place only since 2007, is called the Parental Responsibility Act. It forces parents who are deemed capable, but who fail to agree on any other arrangement, to split custody 50-50. Children go to each parent alternating weeks, like it or not. The rationale was to provide parents optimal contact with the children. In practice, though, many children suffered as they were thrust into the role of trying to get bickering parents to cooperate.

Under the changes being considered, the strict half-and-half split will be replaced by custody schedules worked out by counselors based on the best interests of the children. Another provision will limit how many times a parent can sue for custody. The old law had no limit and lawmakers say some parents have used that out as a tool to mount endless court fights.

In today's environment in which international marriages are more and more common, any change in family law undertaken by a country is likely to have an impact on individuals far beyond their borders, making it all the more necessary to be in touch with an attorney.

Source: The Copenhagen Post, "Parliament to end 50-50 child custody rule," Jennifer Buley," Feb. 13, 2012