HB 1304 Mississippi House · 2025 Regular Session

Joint custody of children; authorize for any type of divorce.

Mississippi's HB 1304 amends custody law to require courts to consider joint custody in *all* divorce cases, not just specific types. It mandates that if a court grants one parent "paramount physical custody," it must also establish a parenting schedule favoring equal time with both parents, subject to the child's best interests. The bill creates a presumption that joint custody (both physical and legal) is in the child's best interest and defines key terms like "joint physical custody" as significant time with each parent. This directly affects parents and courts in Mississippi divorce proceedings involving child custody.
Bill status died 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Feb 2025
House Passage
Feb 2025
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Feb 7, 2025 Last action Mar 4, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

As Introduced Current version · 6 edits
MODERATE
This bill modifies Mississippi's child custody laws to allow joint custody in all divorce cases, not just those with irreconcilable differences, and requires courts to create equal parenting time schedules when awarding one parent paramount physical custody. The legislation also strengthens protections against family violence by establishing rebuttable presumptions that deny custody to parents with a history of domestic violence, while adding specific conditions for supervised visitation and safety measures.
Scope change
Expanded from applying only to divorces based on irreconcilable differences to applying to any type of divorce case
ELIGIBILITY

Joint custody can now be awarded in any divorce case, not just those with irreconcilable differences

REQUIREMENT

Courts must make findings on the record and order parenting time schedules that favor both parents equally when awarding one parent paramount physical custody

Establishes rebuttable presumption that denying custody to parents with a history of family violence is in the child's best interest

Requires courts to consider specific factors like completion of treatment programs and protective orders when determining custody in family violence cases

Allows courts to impose various safety conditions on visitation for perpetrators of domestic violence, including supervised exchanges and prohibition of overnight visits

DEFINITION

Clarified definitions of joint custody, physical custody, and legal custody with specific requirements for shared parenting time

Floor votes · House Feb 5, 2025

How they voted

1140
Passed · 5 other
Total votes 119
Feb 5, 2025
D Democratic39
38 Yea 1
97% Yea
I Independent2
1 Yea 1
50% Yea
R Republican78
75 Yea 3
96% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
7
Key actions
3
Committee
3
Amendments
1
Feb 17, 2025
Committee
Referred To Judiciary, Division A
upper
Feb 7, 2025
Introduced
Transmitted To Senate
lower
Feb 5, 2025
Lower · Passed
Passed As Amended
lower
Feb 5, 2025
Lower · Passed
Amended
lower
Jan 28, 2025
Lower · Passed
Title Suff Do Pass As Amended
lower
Jan 20, 2025
Committee
Referred To Judiciary A
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Shane Aguirre
Shane Aguirre
RRepublican
MS
17