New Hampshire
NPO AFFILIATE | NH
STATE CHAIR: Gayle Drobat
2022 NPO Child Support And Shared Parenting Report Card
WHY DID NEW HAMPSHIRE RECEIVE AN F?
POSITIVES:
None
NEGATIVES:
New Hampshire is one of only 9 states lacking a presumptive parenting time adjustment formula; instead it relies on unnecessarily costly and lengthy court deviation procedures generally inaccessible to lower income parents. The lack of a presumptive PTA as an integral component of mandated presumptive child support guidelines arguably violates federal regulatory requirements.
Highlights:
In instances of divorce or separation:
97% of those in New Hampshire believe it is in the child's best interest ... to have as much time as possible with each parent;"
95% of New Hampshire expressed a commitment to vote their beliefs being "more likely to vote for a candidate who supports children spending equal or nearly equal time with each parent ...when both parents are fit and willing to be parents."
86% support a change in New Hampshire Law that creates a rebuttable presumption that shared parenting is in the best interest of a child after a parental separation.
83% believe that when there is conflict between parents, awarding sole custody to one parent increases conflict.
91% believe that both parents should have equal rights and responsibilities following divorce or separation.
2019 NPO Shared Parenting Report Card
WHY DID NEW HAMPSHIRE RECEIVE A C?
POSITIVES:
New Hampshire statutes require a court to consider a “friendly parent” factor in determining a child’s best interest. N.H. REV. STAT. ANN. § 461-A:6
New Hampshire statutes include a detailed policy statement encouraging parents to share parental rights and responsibilities and to support frequent and continuing contact with both parents. N.H. REV. STAT. ANN. § 461-A:2
New Hampshire statutes concerning temporary orders allow for the allocation of parental rights and responsibilities during the pendency of the legal action to be determined on the same basis as for permanent orders. This should imply that joint legal and shared physical custody can be part of temporary orders. N.H. REV. STAT. ANN. § 461-A:8
NEGATIVES:
New Hampshire has no statutory preference for, or presumption of, shared parenting (joint legal custody and shared physical custody) for temporary or final orders.
New Hampshire statutes may imply courts can order shared parenting (joint legal custody and shared physical custody) during temporary orders but they do not explicitly state this.
New Hampshire statutes specifically authorize courts to modify the original allocation of parental rights and responsibilities if it finds that they are not working but only if the original allocation involved “substantially equal periods of residential responsibility.” This considers awards that involve substantially equal periods of residential responsibility as less legally stable than other allocations of parental rights and responsibilities.
New Hampshire statutes explicitly designate “a parent with 50 percent or more of the residential responsibility” as a “custodial parent” and “a parent with less than 50 percent of the residential responsibility” as a “noncustodial parent.”