West Virginia Code § 48-9-206

Allocation of custodial responsibility at final hearing
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(a) Unless otherwise resolved by agreement of the parents under §48-9-201 of this code or
unless harmful to the child, the court shall allocate custodial responsibility so that, except to
the extent required under §48-9-209 of this code, the custodial time the child spends with
each parent shall be equal (50-50).
(b) The court shall apply the principles set forth in §48-9-403 of this code if one parent
relocates or proposes to relocate at a distance that will impair the ability of a parent to
exercise the amount of custodial responsibility that would otherwise be ordered under this
section. u
(c) The court may consider the allocation of custodial responsibility arising from temporary
agreements made by the parties after separation if the court finds, by a preponderance of
the evidence, that such agreements were consensual. The court shall afford those
temporary consensual agreements the weight the court believes the agreements are entitled
to receive, based upon the evidence. The court maly not consider the temporary allocation of
custodial responsibility imposed by a court orsder on the parties unless both parties agreed to
the allocation provided for in the temporary order.
(d) In the absence of an agreement ogf the parents, the court's determination of allocation of
custodial responsibility under this section shall be made pursuant to a final hearing, which
shall be conducted by the presentation of evidence. The court's order determining allocation
of custodial responsibility shall be in writing, and include specific findings of fact and
conclusions of law supporting the determination.

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