Definition
"Shared" is the past tense and past participle of the verb "to share." As a standalone legal term, it functions almost exclusively as a modifier — appearing in compound phrases rather than as an independent term of art. Its legal significance derives entirely from the phrase it anchors.
1. Shared custody / shared parenting: A parenting arrangement in which both parents divide physical time with a child, legal decision-making authority, or both. "Shared" distinguishes these arrangements from sole custody, where one parent holds primary or exclusive rights. Courts and statutes vary in whether "shared" custody requires equal or near-equal time division, or merely meaningful participation by both parents.
2. Shared income (child support): In income-shares models for calculating child support, "shared" refers to the pooled parental income base from which the presumptive support obligation is calculated. The obligation is then apportioned between parents proportionally.
3. Shared liability: In tort and contract contexts, liability distributed among two or more parties. May arise through joint and several liability, contribution, or proportional fault allocation.
4. Shared cost / cost-sharing: In tax and regulatory law, the allocation of expenses among related parties or between government programs and private actors. Federal tax treatment of certain cost-sharing arrangements, particularly among related corporations, is a distinct and technical area.
5. Shares (corporate law): "Shared" as the past participle of "to share" occasionally appears in corporate contexts — e.g., property or consideration "shared" among shareholders — though the noun form "shares" (units of equity) is the more significant corporate term.
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Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): Simple past and past participle of "share" — to have or use something in common with others, or to divide and distribute something among multiple parties.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): "Share" as a verb meant to partake of, use, or enjoy with others; or to divide and distribute. "Shared" carried no specialized meaning distinct from ordinary use.
The common meaning is largely continuous with legal usage, but the legal significance of "shared" is highly context-dependent. In family law, "shared" custody carries specific statutory weight that varies by jurisdiction and is not captured by the ordinary sense of mutual participation. In tax law, "cost-sharing" is a term of art with regulatory consequences that the common meaning of the word does not anticipate.
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Common Confusion
"Shared custody" vs. "joint custody": These phrases are frequently used interchangeably in both legal documents and common speech, but they can have distinct meanings under specific statutes. "Joint custody" often refers specifically to shared legal custody (decision-making authority), while "shared custody" or "shared physical custody" addresses residential time. Some jurisdictions define the terms separately; others use them synonymously. Researchers should not assume equivalence across jurisdictions or time periods.
"Shared" vs. "divided": In the context of property, "shared" implies concurrent use or ownership, while "divided" implies partition into separate portions. The distinction matters in tenancy and partition contexts.
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Why It Matters in Research
"Shared" is a functional modifier, not a freestanding term of art. Researchers encountering it in historical sources need to identify the noun it modifies before assessing its legal weight. The word itself will not appear as a headword in most historical legal dictionaries — including Rapalje & Lawrence — because its legal content is borrowed from the phrase it completes.
The most research-significant shift involves family law. "Shared custody" as a recognized legal category is largely a post-1970s development, tracking no-fault divorce reform and evolving presumptions favoring both-parent involvement. Researchers working in pre-1970s materials will find "shared" custody rarely if ever used as a term of art; "divided custody" or simply "custody with visitation" were the operative phrases. Importing modern "shared custody" analysis backward into historical cases will produce anachronistic results.
In tax law, "cost-sharing arrangements" became a distinct regulatory category under Treasury regulations governing related-party transactions, particularly in the international transfer pricing context. Historical sources will not reflect this usage, and even mid-twentieth-century sources predate the regulatory elaboration that makes "cost-sharing" a technical term.
In corporate law, "shares" as units of equity is the dominant term; "shared" as a modifier is less common. Researchers should distinguish between sources discussing the sharing of property or consideration among parties (general usage) and sources addressing the attributes of shares as a class of securities.
Cross-corpus navigation: The income-shares model for child support connects "shared" to the Family Law Encyclopedia's treatment of support calculation methodologies. The cost-sharing exclusion in tax connects to the Tax Encyclopedia's treatment of gross income exclusions. Corporate consideration connects to the Business Organizations Encyclopedia's treatment of share issuance and watered stock.
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Historical Dictionary Support
Rapalje & Lawrence does not carry a headword entry for "SHARED." The surrounding entries in the source material — SHALL RELIEVE, SHALL WELL AND TRULY SUBMIT, SHAM ANSWER — confirm that the dictionary was organized around operative legal phrases, not general English modifiers. This absence is itself informative: nineteenth-century legal lexicography did not treat "shared" as a term requiring independent definition, because its legal meaning was considered self-evident from context or was carried by more specific compound phrases.
No historical legal dictionary in the Law Mind corpus treats "shared" as a standalone term of art. Researchers relying solely on historical dictionaries for this word will find nothing directly useful; the research work lies in identifying the specific compound phrase at issue and tracing that phrase through relevant primary sources and more specialized secondary literature.
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Jurisdictional Note
"Shared custody" terminology and its legal consequences vary significantly across U.S. states and internationally. Some jurisdictions define thresholds (e.g., a minimum percentage of overnight time) that trigger "shared" custody status for support calculation purposes; others leave the term undefined and rely on judicial discretion. Researchers should identify the governing statute and any applicable threshold before applying authorities from other jurisdictions.
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Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
Child Support — Income Shares Model (The Law Mind Family Law Encyclopedia)
Corporate Finance — Consideration for Shares and Watered Stock (The Law Mind Business Organizations & Corporate Law Encyclopedia)
Exclusions — Certain Cost-Sharing Payments (The Law Mind Tax Encyclopedia)
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