Bill > HB1662

This bill establishes a rebuttable presumption in favor of joint custody with equal parenting time for children in Mississippi, meaning courts will generally assume this arrangement is in the child's best interest unless proven otherwise by a preponderance of the evidence. If a court deviates from this presumption, it must document its reasons, unless both parents agree to a different arrangement. The bill also outlines how child support will be calculated in cases of equally shared parenting time, generally by comparing what each parent would pay under standard guidelines and ordering the difference to be paid by the higher-earning parent. This new presumption applies only to initial custody orders made after July 1, 2026, and not to modifications of existing orders.

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https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2026/pdf/history/HB/HB1662.xml