The maximum distance for joint custody exists to make shared parenting of the children workable when parents separate. When parents of children divorce, the authorities are concerned with preserving the relationship between each parent and the children, and one of the ways to preserve it is joint custody, with both parents raising the children. For joint custody to succeed, and for each parent to stay continuously involved in the children’s daily lives, a maximum distance for joint custody is set.
In this article we will explain what the maximum distance for joint custody is, why it matters, and what the accepted custody arrangements are.
Maximum distance for joint custody – what is joint custody?
There are two types of child custody: joint custody, and sole custody for the father or sole custody for the mother. The type of custody is set out in a divorce agreement prepared by a lawyer who practices in this field.
Custody is the arrangement, drawn up through an attorney, governing where the children live when their parents separate or divorce. Parents are naturally responsible for caring for their children, raising them, and making decisions for them over the years, until the children reach the age at which they are considered adults and legally competent.
Sole custody means that one parent is the custodial parent, the one with whom the children are raised, while the other parent has parenting time, fixed times during which the children are with them.
Joint custody means the children spend half their time with one parent and half with the other, alternating between the two homes, with each parent providing everything the children need: a room of their own, a closet, toys, and more. For this to work, staying within the maximum distance for joint custody is essential.
Note that because of the tender years presumption, under which children up to age six are placed in their mother’s custody, joint custody can in most cases only apply above the age of six.
For joint custody to work, several conditions must be met:
The maximum distance for joint custody between the two parents’ homes should be small: preferably about twenty kilometers on average or, alternatively, no more than a half-hour drive.
The maximum distance for joint custody matters in several ways:
Logistically, it prevents practical problems with getting the children to kindergarten, school, activities, and friends. On the level of principle, it preserves a single center of life for the child: even if the child is going to live in two homes, they still belong to the same environment and the same area, and can keep studying and spending time with the same friends and in the same settings they loved and were used to before the parents separated.
A further condition for joint custody is mutual regard between the parents: a healthy relationship and reasonable communication, mutual respect and trust, steady day-to-day cooperation, and practical arrangements that make joint custody feasible.
Another condition is the parental capacity of both parents, each taking equal responsibility for raising the child and meeting all the child’s needs while the child is in their care.
Because the maximum distance for joint custody affects the child’s relationship with each parent, a parent who wants to move beyond that distance, say from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, faces certain restrictions. They must consult the other parent and obtain their consent to the move, and in cases where the move would harm the relationship between the other parent and the child, the court may step in and block it, with the child’s best interests as the guiding principle.
The bottom line: the maximum distance is the foundation of joint custody.
When parents divorce, the goal is to let both parents stay involved and share responsibility for raising the child. The way to achieve that is joint custody, but only on condition that the distance between the two parents’ homes remains a reasonable one.
* Updated for 2026
