Mississippi Child Custody Agreement
Since July 1, 2026 Mississippi starts a new custody case at joint custody with equally shared parenting time, and a full agreement between the parents is one of the things that displaces it.
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Introduction
Mississippi changed what a parental agreement does on July 1, 2026, and the change ran in the opposite direction from what most published material still says. Under the former Miss. Code Ann. section 93-5-24(4), an agreement between the parents raised a presumption that joint custody was in the child's best interest. That subsection was repealed by 2026 Miss. Laws H.B. 1662. In its place, section 93-5-24(2)(a) now sets a default rebuttable presumption that joint custody and equally shared parenting time is in the best interest of the child in all custody matters, and section 93-5-24(2)(b)(i) lists the parents having reached an agreement on all issues related to custody of the child or children as one of the grounds on which that presumption may be rebutted. Section 93-5-24(2)(d) completes the picture: on the petition of both parents the court may grant legal or physical custody, or both, to one parent without documenting a reason for the deviation. So the practical answer for a Mississippi reader is that the law now starts you at equal time, and a complete agreement is the instrument that lets the court order something else without having to justify the departure. One limit travels with all of this, and it matters to a large share of readers: section 93-5-24(2)(e) applies the presumption only to initial temporary and initial final custody orders entered after July 1, 2026, and states that it shall not be applied to modifications of any custody orders entered before or after that date.
Key Things to Know
- 1
The rule reversed on July 1, 2026. The repealed Miss. Code Ann. section 93-5-24(4) provided that agreeing raised a presumption in favor of joint custody. Since 2026 Miss. Laws H.B. 1662 took effect, section 93-5-24(2)(a) presumes joint custody and equally shared parenting time by default, and the parents' agreement no longer creates that presumption. Material written before July 2026 that says agreeing raises a joint custody presumption in Mississippi is describing a subsection that no longer exists.
- 2
Agreeing is now a ground for rebutting the default, not for creating it. Section 93-5-24(2)(b)(i) provides that the presumption may be rebutted if the parties have reached an agreement on all issues related to custody of the child or children. The word all is doing work: a partial agreement does not meet the text, so an arrangement that leaves an open custody question is not the same document for this purpose. The presumption is otherwise rebuttable by a preponderance of the evidence under section 93-5-24(2)(a)(ii), but this ground is not framed as an evidentiary showing at all.
- 3
A joint petition removes the court's duty to explain the departure. Section 93-5-24(2)(d) provides that upon the petition of both parents the court may grant legal custody, physical custody, or both to one parent without documenting a reason for the deviation. That documentation duty is what otherwise attaches when a court departs from equally shared parenting time, so a joint request is what switches it off. This is the reason a Mississippi agreement is worth drafting as a joint petition rather than as two separate positions that happen to match.
- 4
The presumption does not reach modifications. Section 93-5-24(2)(e) confines it to initial temporary and initial final custody orders entered after July 1, 2026, and provides that it shall not be applied to modifications of any custody orders entered before or after July 1, 2026. If you already have a custody order and want to change it, the equal time default is not your starting point. Older material citing the pre-2026 subsection numbers will not match the current statute.
- 5
Joint custody is a compound term in Mississippi. Section 93-5-24(3) defines joint custody as joint physical and legal custody together, which is narrower than the loose national usage where joint custody can mean either half. Section 93-5-24(1) keeps the halves available separately as award options, including joint physical custody with legal custody to one parent, and joint legal custody with physical custody to one parent. Say which of the three you mean rather than writing joint custody and leaving it to be read.
- 6
Mississippi's custody factors are not in the statute. Section 93-5-24(1) states that custody shall be awarded according to the best interests of the child and then lists award options rather than decision factors, and section 93-5-23 is written as equitable discretion. The factor list Mississippi lawyers work from comes from a Mississippi Supreme Court decision and has never been codified. Two enumerated lists do appear inside section 93-5-24, one for rebutting the family violence presumption and one for rebutting the joint custody presumption, and neither of them is a general best interest list.
- 7
Family violence carries its own presumption, and it moved. Section 93-5-24(7), renumbered from subsection (9) by H.B. 1662, creates a rebuttable presumption that it is detrimental to the child to be placed in sole custody, joint legal custody, or joint physical custody of a parent who has a history of perpetrating family violence, and section 93-5-24(2)(b)(iii) also lists that presumption as a ground for rebutting the equal time default. The court may find a history on a preponderance of the evidence, on proof of one incident causing serious bodily injury or a pattern of family violence, the presumption is rebuttable only by a preponderance, and written findings are required both on whether it was triggered and on whether it was rebutted. Section 93-5-24(7) also provides that if the court finds the allegations completely unfounded it shall order the alleging party to pay court costs and the other party's reasonable attorney's fees. Where there has been violence or a protective order, this is a situation to raise with a lawyer rather than settle on a form.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Child Custody Agreement in Mississippi, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Child Custody Agreement guide walks through them.
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Mississippi Requirements for Child Custody Agreement
Joint Custody and Equal Time Presumption, Miss. Code Ann. 93-5-24(2)(a)
Since July 1, 2026 there is a rebuttable presumption that joint custody and equally shared parenting time is in the best interest of the child in all custody matters, rebuttable by a preponderance of the evidence. Where the court grants joint custody and equally shared parenting time, subsection (2)(a)(i) requires the court to construct a parenting time schedule that maximizes each parent's time with the child.
Agreement as a Ground for Rebuttal, Miss. Code Ann. 93-5-24(2)(b)(i)
The presumption may be rebutted if the parties have reached an agreement on all issues related to custody of the child or children. State expressly that the agreement covers all custody issues, because a partial agreement does not match the text of the provision.
Joint Petition Without Documented Deviation, Miss. Code Ann. 93-5-24(2)(d)
Upon the petition of both parents, the court may grant legal custody, physical custody, or both to one parent without documenting a reason for the deviation. Draft the agreement so it can be filed as the parents' joint petition rather than as two matching positions.
Presumption Limited to Initial Orders, Miss. Code Ann. 93-5-24(2)(e)
The presumption applies only to initial temporary and initial final custody orders entered after July 1, 2026 and is not applied to modifications of any custody order entered before or after that date. A modification case does not start from equally shared parenting time.
Definition of Joint Custody, Miss. Code Ann. 93-5-24(3)
For the purposes of the section, joint custody means joint physical and legal custody, so the term covers both halves rather than either one. The document should name the intended award, since section 93-5-24(1) also allows joint physical custody with legal custody to one parent and joint legal custody with physical custody to one parent.
Implementation Plan on Request, Miss. Code Ann. 93-5-24(1)
In making a custody order the court, in its discretion, may require the parents to submit a plan for the implementation of the custody order. No plan is required as of course, no contents are prescribed, and the statute does not use the phrase parenting plan, so prepare an implementation plan that can be filed if the court asks for one.
Adequate and Sufficient Finding, Miss. Code Ann. 93-5-2(2)
Where the court finds the custody and maintenance provisions adequate and sufficient, the agreement may be incorporated in the judgment, and the judgment may then be modified as other judgments for divorce. That finding, not the parents' signatures, is what gives the arrangement force.
Custody Gate on the Divorce Judgment, Miss. Code Ann. 93-5-2(3)
No divorce may be granted until all matters involving custody and maintenance of any child of the marriage have been either adjudicated by the court or agreed by the parties, found adequate and sufficient by the court, and included in the judgment. An unapprovable custody clause stalls the divorce rather than being quietly replaced.
Family Violence Presumption, Miss. Code Ann. 93-5-24(7)
There is a rebuttable presumption that it is detrimental to the child to be placed in sole custody, joint legal custody, or joint physical custody of a parent with a history of perpetrating family violence, found on a preponderance of the evidence and rebuttable only by a preponderance, with written findings required at both stages and six mandatory rebuttal factors at subsection (7)(a)(iii). This subsection was numbered (9) before H.B. 1662, and the same subsection requires the alleging party to pay costs and attorney's fees if the court finds the allegations completely unfounded.
Move Away Terms Where the Statutes Are Silent, Miss. Code Ann. ch. 93-5
Mississippi's divorce and custody chapter prescribes no relocation notice period, distance trigger, procedure, or burden of proof. Because nothing supplies a default, the agreement should set its own notice period, trigger, and consequences for the schedule if a parent moves.