Landmark law has Oldham County roots

A Goshen man is the driving force behind a parenting law that is the first of its kind in the country.

Matt Hale, the Kentucky chairman of the National Parents Organization, has been working on a shared parenting law since 2012.

“The new law creates a presumption, a legal starting point, that equal time with both parents, if the parents are fit, is in the child’s best interest,” Hale explained.

The temporary order form of the bill passed unanimously in the House and Senate in April. The permanent order passed 81-2 in the House and unanimously in the Senate.

Kentucky is the first state to have a ‘legal presumption’ and pass the permanent custody order for shared parenting. The law has 11 factors, including distance apart and the parent’s mental health, which are used before equal parenting is approved for divorced or separated parents.

Gov. Matt Bevin ceremoniously signed the full custody bill Sept. 10 in Frankfort.

Hale said he saw the power of shared parenting after his family used it. “I wanted other families to have that same opportunity and other children to have the same opportunity to grow up in a positive environment,” he said.