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Under Regulation 46 of the Child Support Maintenance Calculation Regulations 2012, shared care is defined strictly by the number of overnight stays a child spends with the paying parent over a 12-month period. A minimum threshold of 52 nights per year (equivalent to alternate weekends) must be reached before any statutory deduction is granted.

Daytime care—even if extensive, such as collecting children from school and feeding them dinner—does not count toward statutory shared care reductions under the 2012 scheme unless it includes an overnight stay.

The statutory formula applies a tiered deduction system based on night bands:

• • 52 to 103 nights: 1/7th reduction (14.28% discount)
• • 104 to 155 nights: 2/7ths reduction (28.57% discount)
• • 156 to 174 nights: 3/7ths reduction (42.86% discount)
• • 175 or more nights: 50% reduction plus an extra £7 per child per week

When parents disagree on the number of overnight stays, the CMS will review court orders, written parenting agreements, calendars, and school contact logs. If no formal agreement exists, the CMS will presume shared care of 52 nights only if both parents agree that overnight stays occur but dispute the exact total.

Maintaining a contemporaneous parenting logbook or co-parenting app record (such as OurFamilyWizard) provides definitive evidence during CMS reviews and tribunal hearings.