True 50/50 custody - is this fair or not?

[Salyonami]

True 50/50 custody situation. Time split down the middle, admin/school/appointments etc shared equally between both parties.

No maintenance paid as per the above. All costs split 50/50 between both parties. Ie school trips, new clothes, shoes, electronics, hobbies.

If party 1 is significantly wealthier than party 2 would you still expect the split to be equal given the above. For Context party 2 is not “broke” but a normal income, single parent. Party 1 two adults; two high incomes and the wealthier side.

Does the child involved want 50/50?

Tricky, but I would say 50/50 split on costs but based on the budget of the less wealthy parent. So if they can't afford a school trip/designer clothes/new phone etc then the child can't have it. The wealthier parent could choose to treat the child but couldn't expect the less wealthy parent to contribute more than they can afford. This only works if both parties trust each other to play fair though - the wealthier parent could end up resenting the less wealthy if they think they are claiming they can't afford things in order to manipulate the wealthier one to pay. Maybe an agreed monthly budget for these things?

Perhaps trying to avoid splitting as many costs as possible 50/50? For example, surely there is no need to split clothes 50/50? You can just buy clothes for your house depending on budget and he can do the same for his house, depending on his budget. Same for school uniform (except things that you only have 1 of, school shoes, blazers, PE Kit etc).

School trips, hobbies etc should be split 50/50. I don’t think it is fair to make him pay more just because he earns more.

I’ve recently had issues with the ex refusing to pay 50% for hobbies. Unfortunately this means, child can now only do it 50% of the time when I pay. It’s tough but you have to do what your budget allows.

School dinners, parties etc should be paid if fall on your day.