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Legal Information: Kentucky

Custody

Updated: 
November 15, 2023

Will a judge always grant joint custody?

A judge will make a decision about custody based on what s/he thinks is in your child’s best interest. However, under Kentucky law, there is a “rebuttable presumption” in favor of joint custody. What this means is that the judge will assume that joint custody and equally shared parenting time is in the best interest of the child. If either party does not want joint custody, s/he has to convince the judge to grant another type of custody/parenting time order, such as sole custody or unequal parenting time.1

The only time when the judge will not assume that custody and equally shared parenting time is in the best interest of the child is if one party has a domestic violence order against the other party for his/her own protection or for the protection of the child who is the subject of the custody case.2

1 KRS § 403.270(2)
2 KRS § 403.315

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