What percent of time is every other weekend? In Maryland, where I practice, this percentage is important because it determines whether child support is calculated on the shared custody worksheet or the sole custody worksheet.

Child support on the sole custody worksheet is higher.  Multiply a few hundred dollars a month times twelve months in a year times the number of years until the children reach 18 or 19 and you will see that it is a lot of money we are talking about here.

Maryland counts only overnights in determining the percentage.  So a weekend from Friday to Monday is three overnights.  A weekend from Saturday to Sunday is one overnight.  Three overnights every other week times 26 alternating weekends in a year is 78 overnights a year.  Then you have to add and subtract for holidays, school breaks and summer vacations.  The dividing line in Maryland that puts dads on the lower shared custody guidelines is 128 overnights a year or 35%.